Variety Compares EA/T2 Takeover Bid to Hillary Clinton Campaign... We Disagree
Variety Compares EA/T2 Takeover Bid to Hillary Clinton Campaign... We Disagree
May 20, 2008
Much virtual ink has been spilled over Electronic Art's protracted campaign to acquire GTA IV publisher Take-Two Interactive. In the latest news - as GamePolitics reported yesterday - EA has extended its deadline until June 16th.
Variety's Ben Fritz, who pens The Cut Scene blog, yesterday compared EA's takeover bid to the seemingly doomed presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton:
EA staying in this race is a bit like Hillary Clinton staying in it -- only a complete implosion by the opposition could result in a victory.
Although GP is on record as opposing the EA-T2 merger on the grounds that game consumers will inevitably be screwed in the deal, we couldn't disagree more with Fritz's conclusion that EA's campaign is fruitless.
The deal will almost certainly get done, just not at EA's current $25.74 offering price. We note comments made to GamePolitics by Wedbush-Morgan analyst Michael Pachter earlier this month when EA secured a one billion line of credit:
[EA] need[s] to raise around $800 million to complete the [Take-Two] deal [at $25.74]. The extra $200 million is just a cushion, although I suppose it could be construed as how much higher they’re willing to go [for Take-Two]...
So, EA needs about 30-33 million shares to acquire a majority stake in T2 and has an extra $200 million to spend on any price increase. That's a potential $5-6 bump, depending upon the exact number of shares. When all is said and done, look for EA to own T2 for $27-28.
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LOGINGamePolitics ShoutBox
Posted 01/06/09 at 04:12pm
DeepThorn: Dero, I swear she told me she was 18.
DeepThorn: Dero, I swear she told me she was 18.
Posted 01/06/09 at 03:07pm
HarmlessBunny: @PHX Corp: No surprise. Jack's favorite desperation move: Image-laden filings that make zero sense! Guarunteed to piss someone off, and provide hilarity to us
HarmlessBunny: @PHX Corp: No surprise. Jack's favorite desperation move: Image-laden filings that make zero sense! Guarunteed to piss someone off, and provide hilarity to us
Posted 01/06/09 at 01:54pm
Derovius: What did you call my little sister?
Derovius: What did you call my little sister?
Posted 01/06/09 at 01:38pm
DeepThorn: 'Security' additions, which means it protects the music, which you bought, and have the right to use. It doesnt stop illegal activity, and even copying the music onto 2 back up CDs isnt illegal. Giving one to your little sister is border line.
DeepThorn: 'Security' additions, which means it protects the music, which you bought, and have the right to use. It doesnt stop illegal activity, and even copying the music onto 2 back up CDs isnt illegal. Giving one to your little sister is border line.
Posted 01/06/09 at 01:36pm
CK20XX: What's it gonna take for JT to get arrested? It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad.
CK20XX: What's it gonna take for JT to get arrested? It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad.
Posted 01/06/09 at 12:12pm
PHX Corp: Look on JAABLOG at his recent court filings he's starting to post pictures again http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DB5ODRNE
PHX Corp: Look on JAABLOG at his recent court filings he's starting to post pictures again http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DB5ODRNE
Posted 01/06/09 at 11:51am
CMiner: It's the same as the controversy over Sony's rootkits in their music CDs, as far as a separation of the issues of cd content and the security additions.
CMiner: It's the same as the controversy over Sony's rootkits in their music CDs, as far as a separation of the issues of cd content and the security additions.
Posted 01/06/09 at 11:27am
Vake Xeacons: But there does need to be a limit on DRM. I mean, CD check's okay, but spyware? That's an invasion of privacy!
Vake Xeacons: But there does need to be a limit on DRM. I mean, CD check's okay, but spyware? That's an invasion of privacy!
Posted 01/06/09 at 11:00am
Krono: @insanejedi: DRM isn't an aspect of the game. Unless you can make an argument that Securom is an intregal part of Spore that the game would be an incomplete experience without.
Krono: @insanejedi: DRM isn't an aspect of the game. Unless you can make an argument that Securom is an intregal part of Spore that the game would be an incomplete experience without.
Posted 01/06/09 at 10:57am
insanejedi: It's asking the government to regulate aspects of a game. Their just going to use this as a backdoor to regulate other aspects.
insanejedi: It's asking the government to regulate aspects of a game. Their just going to use this as a backdoor to regulate other aspects.
Posted 01/06/09 at 10:53am
Krono: @insanejedi: DRM = trade practice, Violence in games = speech. I'm not seeing the similarity here.
Krono: @insanejedi: DRM = trade practice, Violence in games = speech. I'm not seeing the similarity here.
Posted 01/06/09 at 10:40am
insanejedi: Guys, Regulation of DRM is fudementally the same as regulating violence in games...
insanejedi: Guys, Regulation of DRM is fudementally the same as regulating violence in games...
Posted 01/06/09 at 10:13am
sortableturnip: He's in full swing now, asking for all expenses paid by the Florida Bar.
sortableturnip: He's in full swing now, asking for all expenses paid by the Florida Bar.
Posted 01/06/09 at 09:51am
sortableturnip: @ Simonbob: isn't it better to read the comments, LOL wise?
sortableturnip: @ Simonbob: isn't it better to read the comments, LOL wise?
Posted 01/06/09 at 09:41am
SimonBob: You could've mentioned it's close to the bottom, although it's good to know he's actually got an okay golf swing.
SimonBob: You could've mentioned it's close to the bottom, although it's good to know he's actually got an okay golf swing.
Posted 01/06/09 at 09:41am
PHX Corp: @Sourtable T JT's brain acts like a cookoo clock, It never stops Cookooing
PHX Corp: @Sourtable T JT's brain acts like a cookoo clock, It never stops Cookooing
Posted 01/06/09 at 09:23am
sortableturnip: In his latest filing, JT claims he is still admitted to practice as an attorney in the Southern District of Florida: http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2007/09/04/pardon-our-appearance.aspx?pg=3&view=threaded
sortableturnip: In his latest filing, JT claims he is still admitted to practice as an attorney in the Southern District of Florida: http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2007/09/04/pardon-our-appearance.aspx?pg=3&view=threaded
Posted 01/06/09 at 09:13am
SimonBob: Or the falsified usernames of gaming company CEOs. :P
SimonBob: Or the falsified usernames of gaming company CEOs. :P
Posted 01/06/09 at 09:07am
Alevan: Yeah, he doesn't use the shoutbox... then again, he doesn't like to confront his problems head on. He hides behind the "law"
Alevan: Yeah, he doesn't use the shoutbox... then again, he doesn't like to confront his problems head on. He hides behind the "law"
Posted 01/06/09 at 09:05am
SimonBob: It's funny, Alevan, I've never seen him respond to anything in the shoutbox. I think he's got tunnel vision.
SimonBob: It's funny, Alevan, I've never seen him respond to anything in the shoutbox. I think he's got tunnel vision.
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
This is very disturbing news. Is there anyway GP can poke the various regulatory comittees and see what they've been thinking. This is obviously bad for the industry, and I am overly curious as to what they are thinking about the entire deal.
---- There is a limit for both politicians against video games, and video games against politicians.
And look for the Federal Trade Commission to reject the takeover as an illegal monopoly of the sports video game market.
If I were an investor I wouldn't be selling t oany company that needed or was willing to get a loan to take over a sports market.
Watching, instead of taking money away form game sales to pay it bakc, guess who's gonan pay. yep, their employees.
if EA does end up taking over T2, somehow i can see, as anonymous said, the employees will end up with the shaft. i would guess that about half (if not more) of T2's payroll would end up getting cut.
T2 doesn't simply have to let this happen though. They could begin buying up their stock, or some third party that's anti-merger could. Basically the situation isn't quite as bleak as is being portrayed.
---------------------------------
So speak I, some random guy.
I know that T2 will be considering their stockholders before their fans on this, but wouldn't it be amazing PR for the company if they said they were taking their fan's opnion into consideration and deciding not to sell to EA? I know I'd sing the praises of T2 if they did.
<blockquote>So, EA needs about 30-33 million shares to acquire a majority stake in T2 and has an extra $200 million to spend on any price increase. That's a potential $5-6 bump, depending upon the exact number of shares. When all is said and done, look for EA to own T2 for $27-28.</blockquote>
Except that EA seems unwilling to part with that much money. If they aren't going to sweeten the deal now, it seems unlikely that they're going to start putting up more later.
By the gods, we should be buying those shares! Think about the things Rockstar and T2 have been able to give us over the last few years (scandals notwithstanding); even if these guys don't love gamers specifically, they manage to consistently give us games that make us think they do. Isn't a company like that worth protecting, particularly from the Evil Empire? If we could seriously find a way to collectively purchase the 30-33 M shares that EA would need, WE could proactively block this move and cast our lot with the creative types.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Pachter != credible. Just because he says the deal will be done is by no means an indication it will be. Take-Two's shareholders have spoken and they don't want to sell to EA right now. They're right too because GTA4 has deatroyed even Take-Two's own revenue expectations. Pachter is wrong as often as he's right and why the gaming press continues to accept his predictions as certainty still baffles me.
I'd say he's wrong more often than he's right. Out of at least dozen stories that had comments from him, he seemed to have been wrong at least three out of four times.