EA just tendered an offer for Take-Two stock at $26 a share. This is basically a hostile take-over — rather than hashing out a deal, they’re convincing shareholders to dump their stock for a bit over official asking price (the shares closed at $24.91 last night). This is a bold move by EA and most probably Take-Two will be in enemy hands by sundown.
Offer to Purchase for Cash All Outstanding Shares of Common Stock of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. at $26.00 Net Per Share by EA08 Acquisition Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts Inc.
THE OFFER AND WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS EXPIRE AT 12:00 MIDNIGHT,NEW YORK CITY TIME, ON FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2008, UNLESS THE OFFER IS EXTENDED.
Notice the offer is on eatake2.com. Looks like somebody visited GoDaddy!
I’m not much of a gamer, but do know that Take Two games succeed *despite* the management of Take Two. And aren’t TT games up there in sales with Halo? Or expected to sell like hotcakes? EA is smart to want to capitalize on the product launch, however how do they know there isn’t another “coffee cup” hiding in there?
Maybe TT should sell, keep the money, and laugh when gamers find “cherry pie” — the next hidden egg.