Perhaps the biggest gaming news of the weekend was Electronic Arts’ bid for Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two, full details of which have been published online by EA at EATake2.com
Take-Two has rejected EA's first offer of a cool $2 billion, claiming: "We believe EA's unsolicited offer is highly opportunistic and is attempting to take advantage of our upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV, one of the most valuable and durable franchises in the industry."
"Electronic Arts' proposal provides insufficient value to our shareholders and comes at absolutely the wrong time given the crucial initiatives underway at the Company," added Strauss Zelnick, executive chairman of Take-Two.
Zelnick adds: "In addition to undervaluing key elements of our business, EA's proposal fails to recognise the value we are building through our ongoing turnaround efforts, which will further revitalise Take-Two."
We'll talk after GTA IV...
However, the GTA-publisher boss did confirm that his company would be willing to enter further discussions with EA after the release of Grand Theft Auto IV on 29 April.
"We believe this offer demonstrated our commitment to pursuing all avenues to maximise stockholder value, while we believe that EA's refusal to entertain this path is evidence of their desire to acquire Take-Two at a significant discount, whereas we believe this value rightly belongs to our stockholders," Zelnick added.
