Janco Partners Inc. analyst Mike Hickey told The Deal's David Shabelman that Ubisoft and media giant Viacom Inc. of New York are two companies that could enter the fray for Take-Two. However, he overlooked the fact that EA already owns 20% of Ubisoft, meaning EA could use the shares to vote against a Take-Two bid. Even if Ubisoft could overcome EA's efforts and win Take-Two, it might find itself in EA's cross-hairs, a scenario Ubisoft management has feared ever since EA bought its shares on the open market.
Instead, EA's Take-Two bid could become the opportunity Ubisoft needs to get rid of EA's yoke. Regulators may force EA to unload its stake in Ubisoft as a condition of a Take-Two purchase.
As for the possibility of Viacom coming to the aid of the New York-based game company, that's not as far-fetched. After all, Viacom would add Take-Two's "Grand Theft Auto" and "BioShock" franchises to its stable of content, and could leverage those stories into other medium, namely TV and movies. EA may also have interest in doing the same. However, it's been widely speculated that should Viacom choose to enter the game business, it would simply buy smaller publisher Midway Games Inc., which counts Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone as one of its largest shareholders. - Matthew Wurtzel
See story from TheDeal.com
See story from Tech Confidential's Money Out section
See related story about EA's content licensing from Corporate Dealmaker
See Take-Two Dealwatch from Dealscape
Comments
An analyst put forth the possibility of French video game publisher Ubisoft Entertainment riding in to save Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. from Electronic Arts Inc.'s hostile bid. The truth is, such a scenario is as far-fetched as the plot lines of their video games.
Midway counts Sumner Redstone as "ONE OF the top shareholders" ha! he owns 90 percent of the shares!