T2 Tells Shareholders To Reject EA's Hostile Offer
T2 Tells Shareholders To Reject EA's Hostile Offer
March 26, 2008
Hot off the wires...Take-Two (TTWO) has issued a press release in which it recommends that company shareholders reject a $26 tender offer by would-be acquirer Electronic Arts (ERTS). The EA bid is termed "inadequate in multiple respects and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two’s stockholders."
The release also claims that T2 will begin a "review of stragetic alternatives" following the April 29th release of Grand Theft Auto IV:
The Company has received indications of interest from third parties with respect to possible business combination transactions [i.e., mergers]... but no substantive discussions have yet occurred... Prior to the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, the Company is willing to enter into confidentiality agreements on customary terms and to engage in preliminary conversations with interested parties, including EA.
Chairman Strauss Zelnick is quoted in the press release:
Take-Two’s Board of Directors and senior management team were put in place less than one year ago with one mandate: maximize stockholder value. We have maintained a single-minded focus on that goal ever since and it remains the guiding principle in every decision we make with regard to Take-Two. Our Board, after careful review, has unanimously determined that Electronic Arts’ offer continues to provide insufficient value and remains opportunistically timed to capture the value of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV launch at the expense of our stockholders.
An article in today's New York Post quotes Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Wienkes:
We believe [EA's] shares already incorporate a modest bump. We think its rational to expect a higher bid.
Webdush-Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggested T2 consider peace talks:
If Take-Two approaches EA about how to make this a friendly deal, they have a chance at getting EA to increase its bid.
Meanwhile, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia foresees only a small bump in EA's offer price:
We see EA eventually raising the bid, but only slightly. . . $1 or $2.
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Posted 11/08/09 at 09:02am
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yez7jyo
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yez7jyo
Posted 11/08/09 at 09:01am
DarkSaber: Oh for gods sake, the Gearbox pres is gobbing off about Valve again
DarkSaber: Oh for gods sake, the Gearbox pres is gobbing off about Valve again
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:53am
JDKJ: But cheer up, Austin. If the unemployment rate continues to double-digit as predicted for the next few years, your half-dozen stands a better than likely chance of returning to power.
JDKJ: But cheer up, Austin. If the unemployment rate continues to double-digit as predicted for the next few years, your half-dozen stands a better than likely chance of returning to power.
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:46am
JDKJ: @DS: If he had added the line about "or hiring illegals aliens under the table to work as nannies," it would have been a completely perfect descripition. And, yes, it's about the same difference between a six and a half-dozen.
JDKJ: @DS: If he had added the line about "or hiring illegals aliens under the table to work as nannies," it would have been a completely perfect descripition. And, yes, it's about the same difference between a six and a half-dozen.
Posted 11/08/09 at 08:31am
DarkSaber: My god, that description makes them sound almost Republican. Still what did you expect, Obama is only marginally more left than republicans.
DarkSaber: My god, that description makes them sound almost Republican. Still what did you expect, Obama is only marginally more left than republicans.
Posted 11/08/09 at 01:07am
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Posted 11/08/09 at 01:06am
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Posted 11/08/09 at 12:24am
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
Posted 11/07/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
I'm out of the loop. Has there even been mention of GTA V? Long ago, I had heard GTA IV was the last of the series.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Regardless, stockholders would be completely insane to sell stock just BEFORE something that is practically guaranteed to be a massive hit
People don't hold stock in a company because they like the product line or the company, they're not doing it out of the goodness of the hearts, they're hoping to make some money. The only question is, do they think they can make more money by holding onto it, or by selling to EA?
Understood. But come at it from a slightly different angle. Imagine if you will, how many of T2's shareholders, do you suppose, are gamers? Of those people, how many do you suppose, care about GTA4 beyond what the company promises them?
Not having a huge background in the subject, I don't honestly know what having a solid release title does for a company's stock price. Although I did hear some rumors that Bioshock did wonderful things for 2K last year. That said, buyout offers almost always drive stock prices through the roof. Since EA announced their intentions to acquire take2, T2 is up 40%; and the actual sale hasn't even occurred yet. Also, consider, if EA does acquire T2, it's not like that means they WON'T launch GTA4. Quite the contrary. GTA4's probably the main reason they want to acquire T2. So consider, if you're a shareholder, why shouldn't you get the benefits from both the buyout AND the GTA4 launch?
I don't know anyway who thinks EA getting their hands on T2 is a good thing, well aside from a certain hack and maybe idiots on Wall Street. Hopefully Rockstar has a "out clause" and can retain their properties. 2K games though is probably screwed.
The way EA is going, not only would they put in real-world ads, but they'd also likely take out the best cars and weapons, instead requiring you to purchase them as microtransactions.
The thought of that makes me cringe...
When GTA San Andreas was released, TTWO stock reached the mid $30s. And it was ONLY released on the PS2.
GTA IV is going to be released on both the PS3 and XBox 360... and it's going to have episodic content released via "xbox live". I can assure you TTWO stock will easily, once again, reach the mid $30s and will most likely hit the $40s.
EAs $26 a share offer is a joke. Unfortunately, I'm not laughing. I fear most of the share holders are probably going to be duped, which is quite unfortunate.
What kind of a dumb stock holder would agree to this deal???
C&C 3, I love the game won't lie but they made the world SHINEY and pretty, the world in C&C Firestorm was desolate and cumbling.
MoH, honestly needs to die, love the series but my god whats the tally at now? 32, 33 MoH? My god let it die.
Maybe I'm biased towards EA.
OK - I defer to your experience and recant some of my theories. I still believe the sale will go through eventually, but I honestly have no idea what GTA4 would do to the price, or how to compare it to the 40% it hiked when EA tried to acquire them. My assumption that it's possible to have the best of both worlds is based on the idea that EA can be cornered into paying more pre-GTA4 then they can post.
I'm sticking to my underlying theory though, I still believe the only relevant question is whether or not T2's stockholders make more money for themselves by holding out, or selling to EA. I have no love for EA, and I'm certainly not crazy about them continuing what amounts to a godzilla like rampage across the industry (especially leaving a swath of closed development houses in their wake). I just believe that what's best for the industry won't be the deciding factor. Will be all about $'s.
As was mentioned, the kind that doesn't know squat about the company behind the stock they hold. The kind that sees short-term profit instead of long-term, or even next week.
Which reminds me, anyone know where I can get a 2008 Model T? I've heard great things about their earlier models!