14 DAY TRIAL // If you woke up today experiencing a slight feeling of d?j?-vu, think for a moment of the situation that the managers at Electronic Arts are in as they experience the d?j?-vu of their lives just as they are announcing, for the fourth time, that they plan to extend the deadline for a hostile takeover of Take Two, the publisher of GTA IV.
The previous extension by Electronic Arts expired on July 18 and now, the videogame publisher says that the extension will go on to August 18, when the leadership of the company meet again and see if the offer needs to be prolonged. The reason for the extension is the fact that EA and the Federal Trade Commission are currently working together to dispel any fear of monopoly related to the sports games divisions of the two companies that are involved in the takeover offer. Electronic Arts says that it plans to wrap up its dealing with the FTC somewhere before August 21 and that it hopes it can also close the deal with the shareholders of Take Two around the same time.
Take Two has again responded through Strauss Zelnick, the chairman of the board of the company, who said that the entire board is united in opposing any deal and pointed to recent financial results to show that his company doest not need the help of Electronic Arts. Zelnick stated that Take Two is "fully engaged in a formal process to evaluate strategic alternatives that have the potential to deliver greater value than EA's inadequate offer". He did not say what these strategic alternatives were.
It seems that Electronic Arts' offer has so far managed to attract, despite the numerous extension, just 15% of the outstanding shares of Take Two. The number is clearly insufficient and most analysts agree that Electronic Arts needs to increase the price it offers per share if it is to have any chance of completing the takeover process.