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EA, FTC Agree On Take-Two Bid Deadline, Another Extension Likely
Posted by Leigh Alexander at 5:00 AM on June 5, 2008
Electronic Arts has agreed to wait on completing any potential acquisition of Take-Two until the Federal Trade Commission has completed its investigation of the possible merger, the company revealed today through an SEC filing.
Under the agreement, no transaction will be completed until the FTC has finished its probe, which can take up to 45 days instead of the customary 30.
"We've entered an agreement with the FTC to modify the scope," said an EA spokesperson. "This is a normal part of the review process, which allows us to move through the review as expeditiously as possible while giving the FTC additional time in which to complete its full review and work."
At the time EA last extended its tender offer until June 16th, corporate development VP Owen Mahoney said the extension would allow the FTC further time to complete its investigation. However, there are only 7 business days between now and the expiration of EA's current offer, not 45 - so it's reasonable to infer EA will extend its offer again to allow the FTC to fully complete its probe.
EA declined to comment on plans to extend the offer, but the spokesperson said, "You'll hear from us on or before the expiration."
The FTC also does not comment on the specific details of individual investigations.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
opt2not
Posted 5:40 AM 5/6/08
@Nirolak: Sure those games are all fine and dandy, but I will never forgive EA for destroying the sports game genre. Poor football. Sad hockey...atrocious Basketball. EA is forever black-booked for me.
opt2not
Fnor
Posted 5:31 AM 5/6/08
@Fnor: bah. "But they didn't release..."
Fnor
Fnor
Posted 5:30 AM 5/6/08
@NoFunShogun: You do realize that TTWO price shot up in February. On the 24th. But they didn't Oh, right, the day EA announced their offer.
Since then it has stayed roughly stable.
Fnor
Cola82
Posted 5:26 AM 5/6/08
@Nirolak: I'm not sure I want to give them the chance to change anything at Take Two.
Cola82
mdoubleok
Posted 5:24 AM 5/6/08
Wow. Ea Would suck the life out of good games.
Gta every 6 months, and no codes naw you gotta download all the cheats.
Now if they allowed Visual Concepts and Tiburon to alternate madden every other year.
That might be some good.
mdoubleok
Nirolak
Posted 5:18 AM 5/6/08
@NoFunShogun: Well, you have to give EA some credit lately. Sure, they're still drilling Madden and The Sims into the ground, but between Spore, Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Skate, and even Warhammer Online (a game that I thought was a complete WoW clone until someone had me read up on it, and even that innovates quite a fair amount), they do seem to be turning their evilness around and producing genuinely good games. They're even willing to publish Valve titles without putting their name on the box. Does this mean they'll stay much more benevolent forever? I can't say, but they at least deserve a chance in their newfound light.
Nirolak
JuanMontoya
Posted 5:10 AM 5/6/08
Wow. They just don't know when to quit do they?
JuanMontoya
NoFunShogun
Posted 5:10 AM 5/6/08
Yeah, now that Take-Two has another smash hit under their belts and their stocks are climbing, I'm sure that EA's offer will seem magically sweeter this time around.
And maybe EA will stop making the same game over and over again.
And then maybe the worlds will align and the cosmos will explode and Duke Nukem Forever will be released to critical accolades.
NoFunShogun
excaliburps
Posted 5:08 AM 5/6/08
Wonder how long 'til these extensions last?
I mean at this point, wouldn't EA be better suited to wait for Take Two's stock to plunge a little bit after GTA4 afterglow? They can't keep that momentum the whole year.
What EA should do is instead make games that can compete with Take-Two's market. Make a superior GTA clone. Make a better Basketball game series. Etc etc...Or they can gobble up the next big name. Either way it's easier and there's less resistance.
excaliburps
interstate78
Posted 5:08 AM 5/6/08
this is getting ridiculous.
YOU HAVE UNTIL MAY !!
ok ok til June..
maybe July too if you're a good boy
interstate78
Nirolak
Posted 5:08 AM 5/6/08
At this rate Take-Two's acquisition can be EA's E3 announcement.
Nirolak
Cola82
Posted 5:02 AM 5/6/08
AUGH! I thought this was over. Don't they know this is bad for my poor little gamer heart?
Cola82
JVODKA
Posted 6:09 AM 5/6/08
The thing is, this will happen unless the government decides to step in for some reason. By 2k's own admission, EA had managed to get around 8% of their total shares by May 19th. That was with an offer they saw as inadequate and when the GTA effect was still new. So we don't know how many shares EA has been able to get since. They gobbled up a percentage of Ubisoft the same way.
I don't see how the government could stop the buyout, as it doesn't really affect much. EA buying Take Two doesn't give them a monopoly any more than them legally being allowed to buy exclusive licenses did.
JVODKA
Americo
Posted 5:59 AM 5/6/08
On a lighter note, now might be a good time to invest in T2 stocks.
Americo
Americo
Posted 5:58 AM 5/6/08
My headache is coming back...
Americo
mphz
Posted 6:46 AM 5/6/08
Can't they just let it go for God's sake? I swear I'll never buy another EA product again if this crap goes down, and I'll be damn sure every gamer I know does the same.
mphz
Tietsu
Posted 7:10 AM 5/6/08
I can't wait until my grandchildren have to wait through this too.
Tietsu
Dajmin
Posted 7:28 AM 5/6/08
I have a lot of respect for the T2 shareholders who haven't caved under this pressure, and what must be a really tempting offer for some of them.
However, Yahoo is still quoting the share value at over $27, so why would anyone choose to lose almost $2 per share by going for this?
It makes no sense to sell on a company level, because T2 have a load of great games and franchises to keep them going. It makes no sense on a personal level to sell at that price, because you could get more elsewhere.
Dajmin
Indiedog
Posted 10:07 AM 5/6/08
It's going to happen. Oh, and if you look at the titles of the games that are being used as examples of how EA's "turning it around", the majority of these are newly acquired studios (Bioware) or studios that have been an independent studio within EA's organization (Maxis). Skate is the lone exception as a game that was a new franchise created by an existing EA studio. The other EA studios (EA Canada) still put out mediocre products. Skate was good because of the creators and the fact they were left alone.
Indiedog