News: Take Two has until Monday to decide.
EA has announced that they have publicly tendered an offer of an all-cash merger to the shareholders of Take-Two. This merger would total $2 billion at a price of $26 per share. Take Two shares were worth $17.11 after the market closed on Friday, making this a 64% premium.
This public offer comes on the heels of a private offer worth $25 a share that the Take-Two Board of Directors rejected.
EA is making this offer now because they believe that with development on
Grand Theft Auto IV complete, the company will not be disrupted by a merger.
If this deal goes through it would vault EA back to the top of the third-party heap. After other recent mergers with BioWare and Pandemic, an EA-Take Two alliance would stand eye-to-eye with Activision Blizzard once more.
It would also make EA the home to an incredible number of successful franchises and it would also make them the only major developer of licensed sports games. The combined company would also hold exclusive rights to create NFL football and NCAA football and they would be the only third-party company creating a Major League Baseball-licensed game.
We'll have more as we learn it, but until then, Take-Two shareholders have a lot to think about on what was a lazy Sunday.