Electronic Arts Might Be in Some Trouble with the Federal Trade Commission

It's again that time of the month when we get to talk about how Electronic Arts tries and tries to get Take Two in a hostile takeover bid, and about how Take Two again and again manages to maintain its independence. The deadline (the third one for anyone who's still counting) related to the takeover offer is fast approaching, but Electronic Arts has recently agreed to extend it again, regardless of the outcome.

This time, the reason is not the takeover bid in itself or the opposition from Take Two, although it is highly unlikely that Electronic Arts gets the number of shares it needs to declare the bid a success. The Federal Trade Commission, the organization that oversees all major transactions in the United States to make sure that no monopolies are formed and no insider trading is going on, has requested new information from the videogame publisher regarding the conditions for its tender offer and the overall situation of the company if the bid is successful. It's not clear whether the Federal Trade Commission is just performing a mandatory check or whether there are some concerns that an acquisition of Take Two by EA would create a situation that affects competition on the videogames market.

Electronic Arts has agreed to extend the deadline of the offer by another 45 days from the moment when the Commission notifies EA of its findings. It seems that the FTC was also the cause of the last extension announced by the company. Owen Mahoney, senior vice president of corporate development at Electronic Arts, has said that "extending our offer will allow the FTC review process to continue".

No change to the original offer has been made, with the price per share being at 25.74 dollars again. Take Two is still saying that the price offered by Electronic Arts is far too low for the bid to be successful.