Stealing a page out of the "Grand Theft Auto" playbook, video game giant Electronic Arts Inc. has ambushed Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. with a
$2 billion take-over offer as it attempts to lock up the company before the release of the next installment of the blockbuster crime game.
Electronic Arts is offering $26 a share for Take-Two, a 63% premium to the company's $17.36 closing price on Friday. Electronic Arts made the offer public after Take-Two's board turned down a Feb. 15 private offer of $25 share and a $26 bid on Feb. 22.
In an ironic twist Take-Two's board, stacked with activist shareholders led by chairman Strauss Zelnick, is turning down the cash. Tired of management shenanigans and a falling stock price, the activists, who now claim the $2 billion bid undervalues the company,
won a fight to take control in March 2007. The prior team had put the company on the block last year as it explored a number of options, including finding a buyer. The day before the proxy fight ended, the stock traded at $21.10, valuing the company at $1.8 billion.
- George White
See EA press release
See Deal.com story on proxy fight
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