Take Two Rejects EA's Offer

[Valdarez]

This is far from over, but this is at least a good sign!

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-24028760.htm

[AirGibson]

I don't follow. I thought the board of directors had already rejected the offer and EA was now going around them an appealing directly to the stockholders (a.k.a. a hostile takeover)?

How is this different? Was this a new offer to the board, or something?

[Valdarez]

Yes, it is new, they had 10 business days from the hostile take over attempt to tell stock holders how to respond. They told them that the offer was inadequate.

[AirGibson]

Ah, yeah, no big surprise. Their opinion remains the same.

The big news will be the shareholder reaction.

[Valdarez]

Can't beat the 'poison pill' clause!

The company also took further actions to make a hostile takeover more difficult--following on from its taking up a severance plan for executives and other employees in the event of termination following a takeover. Today, among other things, it also changed the date and time of its annual meeting to April 17 at 6:30 p.m. (EDT), adopted a stockholder rights agreement, and established a "poison pill" clause that would allow for the creation of new shares in the company if any individual shareholder acquires 20 percent or more of the company in the next 180 days. The poison pill would also be triggered if an investor currently over that threshold acquired an extra 2 percent of the company.

[Temmpus]

Actually all they can do is ask stockholders no to sell. Stockholders can still sell their shares. As for the "poison pill", I think if they were to enact it, which is within their rights, they will really anger some of the stockholders. I think you may see some more legal wrangling happen before this is all said and done.

[GhostRider]

I think they should be proactive and attempt the merger they mentioned with someone!

[saviour2k8]

Can't beat the 'poison pill' clause!


Oh I love the poison pill!!!

That will prevent the many over anxious stock holders from trying to cash out too early and let the real investors sit back and wait for the Executive Board to drive the price up. Its a thing of beauty.

[Valdarez]

The poison pill will give EA pause as well. If they buy up 20%, and then Take Two release more stock options, and suddenly EA only has a 10% stake. Insert endless loop, and EA's left out in the cold.

[nflhitman]

Poison pill in this a great Idea but when it happened to my Seahawks with Hutchinson I was ****ed!

[D0N V C0RLE0NE]

we all know ea will own 2k soon enough

no more 2k sports

the end is near, start playing other games in advance of the online sports genre downfall

[Temmpus]

Yeah, it sure looks like Take Two is done. That's why I really don't expect to see a fix. Oh, I'm sure they'll release a patch but I'm not expecting a fix for the online lag which is the only real issue I have with this game right now.

BTW, didn't I beat you in APF 2k8?

[Mesmashu]

Can 2KSports/VC break away from Take Two?

[Valdarez]

Some of the companies have exclusionary clauses in case of a buyout. Not sure which ones of Take Two have it though.

[Mesmashu]

I could really care less about Take Two... My loyalties lie with Visual Concepts and 2KSports. If EA leaves Visual Concepts alone and uses them to replace Tiburon, that might be a good thing.

I found this:

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello recently granted an interview to state the reasons why their company wants Take-Two. According to the official, the publisher's studios attract them the most:


I will tell you that our attraction to the asset of Take-Two is because we love their studios- Rockstar, Visual Concepts, Irrational [2K Boston and 2K Australia], Firaxis - and we like their intellectual properties.

The fact that he acknowledged Visual Concepts had me wondering if he'd keep it in tack as opposed to our thoughts of EA crushing 2KSports all together. Maybe the new CEO Riccitiello actually understands that 2KSports is better than what his company owns and wants to acquire the talent?

Is it safe to say that most EA haters actually hate Tiburon, the makers of Madden and other sports games? If EA acquired VC and let them take over Madden would that change your feelings about EA?

[Gtboys34]

finally some good news....

[Temmpus]

What good news?

[vinnie_2k3]

Even if Evill A**holes replaced tiburon with Visual Concepts they wouldnt change from the madden engine to the vastly superior VC engine. They would also put the chokehold on VC's innovation. We(EA) dont want too much innovation every year cause then what will we do next year? Especially with no competition to copy from.

I bet EA would make VC install an innovation station to ideate. lol

[Mesmashu]

Even if Evill A**holes replaced tiburon with Visual Concepts they wouldnt change from the madden engine to the vastly superior VC engine. They would also put the chokehold on VC's innovation. We(EA) dont want too much innovation every year cause then what will we do next year? Especially with no competition to copy from.

I bet EA would make VC install an innovation station to ideate. lol

what makes you think they wouldn't allow them to use their own engine? I'm guessing that's why he said he "loved" their studio is because of the work they've done. why force Tiburon gwatcha down their throats?

EA might actually be changing their ways with regards to how they handle their developers...

The buyout might be a good thing for Visual Concepts, but probably a bad thing for Kush Games...

[Bowdown]

its old news, its the stock holders rejecting whats going to make news if they reject the offer

[Temmpus]

No way the stockholders reject the offer. EA is offering more than twice what the stock is worth. If you could more than double your money in one shot why wouldn't you do it?

[Mesmashu]

more news...

Take-Two's two largest shareholders -- FMR's Fidelity Funds and Oppenheimer Funds Inc. -- on Monday told regulators that they had shed significant holdings in the company. FMR slashed its stake in Take-Two to 2.75% last month, from 14.7%, while Oppenheimer cut its stake in half to 11.6%.

The sell-off indicates that shareholders believe Take-Two is unlikely to get a better offer, said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities. "They're dropping like flies," he said.

Strauss Zelnick, who became chairman after wresting control of Take-Two in a boardroom coup a year ago, reiterated in a call with analysts Tuesday that EA's offer "failed to value fully Take-Two's portfolio." Last month, days after quietly rejecting EA's bid, Take-Two's board extended its contract with Zelnick's management firm, ZelnickMedia, and tripled the fee it paid the firm to $2.5 million a year.

"Their moves in the wake of EA's offer certainly have raised some eyebrows," said John Taylor, managing director of Arcadia Investments, which owns shares of Take-Two and EA. "A lot of people were under the impression that ZelnickMedia was coming in to clean up Take-Two and find a buyer. Now it looks like they're settling in for a longer stay."

[vinnie_2k3]

what makes you think they wouldn't allow them to use their own engine? I'm guessing that's why he said he "loved" their studio is because of the work they've done. why force Tiburon gwatcha down their throats?

EA might actually be changing their ways with regards to how they handle their developers...

The buyout might be a good thing for Visual Concepts, but probably a bad thing for Kush Games...

Why? What would EA have to gain? Most everyone buys madden now. Most of their fans dont want a football simulator. they want to drop back 20 yds & chuck a bomb for a TD. Do you think EA cares about quality games? No they care about sales.

And when he said "loved", he meant to say he would "love" to eliminate the competition. Oh wait, there's still wii golf! What a joke. i dont buy any crap Evil A**holes CEO says. He wants to get rid of the competition, period.

Evil A**holes sports business plan is built on exclusive contracts. Not good for any gamers. TT IS NOT better with them. And neither are we.