EA extends Take-Two offer, Take-Two still not interested

16 June is the new deadline

19 May 2008 16:31 GMT / By Verity Burns

EA has extended its offer to buy GTA developer, Take-Two, by 4 weeks, meaning it will now run until 16 June.

The company had offered $2 billion for the developers, but the bid expired on 16 May, with only 8% of shareholders tendering their shares to EA by the time of the deadline.

EA have therefore decided to extend the offer to allow shareholders to mull the bid over for a little longer. It will not, however, be altering its price.

"Extending our offer will allow the FTC review process to continue", said Owen Mahoney, senior VP of EA Corporate Development.

"EA's offer price remains unchanged at $25.74 per share and our offer is still subject to conditions that include regulatory approval. As stated earlier, we retain the right to terminate the offer if the conditions are not satisfied."

However, Take-Two is urging shareholders against tendering their shares, labelling it as unsuitable and an offer that "undervalues" the company.

Take-Two's chairman Strauss Zelnick said: "This is the same highly conditional proposal that EA offered Take-Two stockholders on March 13, 2008, which our board of directors thoroughly reviewed and unanimously determined to be inadequate and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two's stockholders".

"As such, the recommendation of our board of directors that stockholders not tender their shares to EA remains unchanged... We are confident in the significant growth potential of Take-Two and in the unique value of our business given our strong position in this growing and dynamic industry", Zelnick added.

CEO Ben Feder believes that Take-Two's recent success means shareholders also believe the company is worth more than EA's bid. He said: "We have just announced an agreement with Universal Pictures to make BioShock, the universally acclaimed hit videogame, into a feature film, demonstrating how Take-Two is delivering value from our powerful and wholly-owned intellectual property".

"The small number of shares tendered into EA's offer to date demonstrates that our stockholders agree with what our board has maintained from the beginning: EA's proposal undervalues our company."