Games

Shareholders Give Take Two Vote of Confidence, EA Still Unsuccessful

Grand Theft Auto IV, still not an Electronic Arts property

By Calin Ciabai, Games Editor

18th of April 2008, 17:06 GMT

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As we said yesterday, Take Two's shareholders had a meeting and probably their most important discussion topic was about Electronic

Arts' tender offer of acquisition. As some analysts have expected, the $26 per share offer was refused, but Electronic Arts inside sources claim that the decision did not really represent the majority.

During yesterday's meeting, the shareholders easily passed a proposal to grant ZelnickMedia, the company's management, 1.5 million shares of restricted stock - a decision that was considered by Chairman Strauss Zelnick a "vote of confidence". And it really was like that (at least from Take Two's point of view, since the board was also re-elected by a wide margin).

However, one Electronic Arts spokesperson considered the decision like "asking your last employer to give you a million dollar raise and forcing your new employer to pay it" - which further means that the giants are still sure they will acquire the GTA owners. One of the reasons EA doesn't consider the latest shareholders meeting accurate is the fact that Take Two only allowed shareholders of record as of Feb. 19 to vote - that was five days before EA's offer and way before, according to analysts, more than half of the shares have changed hands.

The recent restricted stock grant reduces the value of EA's bid to $25.74 per share from $26, according to EA and analysts - some of whom think this means shareholders are leaning toward accepting the bid at its current value. Take-Two, however, continues to say that the offer undervalues the company. If this is the truth or not, we'll probably never get to know for sure, but one thing is clear (something that only matters now more than the acquisition itself) - during the same shareholders meeting, it was confirmed that the most wanted Grand Theft Auto IV game had reached gold status and trucks filled with game copies are already driving towards game shops.

TAGS:

Take Two | acquisition decision | Electronic Arts | EA | Grand Theft Auto IV

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