EA's Take-Two bid FTC compliant, no action before 8/21

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Jul 8, 2008 6:58 pm GMT

Federal regulatory body says megapublisher has submitted required information on proposed purchase of rival; further extension puts next step six weeks away.

The great game-industry saga of 2008 continued today with the next step in Electronic Arts' protracted takeover attempt of Take-Two Interactive. In a filing this morning with the Securities and Exchange Commission, EA announced that it was "in substantial compliance" with the Federal Trade Commission's information requests.

Early last month, the FTC had requested additional information to ensure that the proposed buyout--which turned hostile in March--did not violate US antitrust laws. Some concerns had been raised because the deal would see EA Sports' sole major rival, 2K Sports, subsumed into EA's multibillion-dollar organization.

According to a recent earnings report, 2K Sports is losing money despite holding exclusive third-party publishing rights to Major League Baseball. EA has a complete monopoly on all major licensed football games, including NFL, NCAA, and Arena leagues, as well as the sole rights for FIFA-branded soccer games. Both companies develop and publish NHL hockey and NBA basketball games, although 2K recently let its NCAA College Hoops license lapse.

As a result of today's FTC announcement, EA's $2 billion bid for Take-Two will continue beyond its previously announced July 18 deadline. Although the Redwood City, California-headquartered company today promised no action until August 21, its offer currently stands at $25.74 per share of Take-Two stock, which was trading at $24.26 on the NASDAQ as of press time. Despite the fact that the offer would now earn its shareholders a profit, Take-Two's board has repeatedly and vociferously refused EA's advances, citing record-shattering sales of Grand Theft Auto IV as proof that the company would fare better on its own.

200 Comments

  • inscript

    Posted Aug 3, 2008 12:46 am GMT

    2ksport rocked sinced dreamcast well the whole Take 2 thing rocks, EA is getting on my nerves ,ea was good during the 90's far as sports games till 2k showed off with NFL2k NBA2k which grabed every one's attention, till NFL2k5 came out lol madden 2005 couldnt keep up with, so they cried like lil girls to the nfl and espn, which put a hold on 2k nfl rights, which left every one to have no choice on what kind of nfl game to play but madden, take 2 dont join ea at no cost what so ever, if yall do ea will force us to play nba live kiddie hoop, if yall do come close to ea or have no choice, have a talk with microsoft im sure they will back yall up on a offer

  • JimmyJimJim

    Posted Jul 31, 2008 7:15 pm GMT

    EA is pathetic man they can't make any good games so lets just buyout all the competition and now that ActivisionBlizzard is way larger and better then them their desperate what a bunch of tools.

  • hector1313

    Posted Jul 15, 2008 2:28 pm GMT

    If EA succeed in this takeover bid, I'm sure we can say goodbye to high quality sports games in the future.

  • defjam33

    Posted Jul 14, 2008 7:27 am GMT

    take2's board of directors who probably own the most stocks are holding out for a more sweeter buyout i bet..too bad it's not gonna happen , and they should just take the money and run.

  • pseudoshadow11

    Posted Jul 13, 2008 2:03 pm GMT

    FrankenLife: You have one of the better understandings of economics that I have seen here on gamefaqs. I applaud your theory on how things could/would go but you also said that you want a "free market." In a truly free market, there is no government regulations to stop monopolies because in a strictly capitalistic society, the economically "inferior" businesses go out of business or are consumed by the economically "superior" businesses. I personally do not want to see EA take over Take Two Interactive as I see that as a bad thing for consumers (and the fact I haven't bought a first-hand copy of an EA game in probably 5 years) but, in an economics sense, this a potentially good thing (if you believe in the capitalist system).

  • NA3D

    Posted Jul 13, 2008 12:57 pm GMT

    good idea bulldog... i would say that might be against the agreement, but since it is a hostile take over, they could actually do it. it would lesson the company's value though, and i doubt they will do it anyways.....

    blakk, between activision and EA that is pretty much how things already are. it isnt even you play our games, it is you play our cheap excuse for a game that we made as cheaply as possible and might actually fix the glitches of if we feel like it later down the road.

    the real question is, what can we do to protect ubisoft? i think the TTwo situation is just pretty much all over with and EA has them, because the stock holders just wan their money, and the government is going to do squat about it. They rather act like they are doing their job when in reality they just waste time and our tax money.

  • Bulldog19892

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 9:11 pm GMT

    If the developers are cool enough, they'll sell the rights to their games to someone other than EA before the hostile takeover is completed.

  • BlakkSteel

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 5:59 pm GMT

    This takeover will put a cramp in the gaming industry. Soon, it'll be "you play our games, or you don't play at all." In some instances, I will definitely choose the latter.

  • rotnem

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 5:33 pm GMT

    I support Take-two's independence! The Red Coat EA will not win!

  • NEO-HAWK

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 3:34 pm GMT

    Personally I would want take-two to stay independent, but against the EA machine I feel them moving to ActivisionBlizzard would be the best move for all party's (well apart from EA)

  • Merl57

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 10:09 am GMT

    I still support 2k's independence

  • porphyrous

    Posted Jul 10, 2008 9:56 pm GMT

    if Take Two tries to sell of 2K Sports -- or if the employees try to burn the place down -- EA will sue in court to stop them, and they would win and get all of Take Two's assets anyway. Once a company goes public, they are limited in how much they can resist a takeover effort.

  • porphyrous

    Posted Jul 10, 2008 9:52 pm GMT

    If Take Two fights off EA, perhaps Anheuser-Busch stands a chance....

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