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EA to buy T2 for three trillion you ess dollars
The_Scarab
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http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080224/20080224005062.html?.v=1
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Electronic Arts Inc. (“EAâ€) (NASDAQ: ERTS - News) today announced that it has proposed to acquire Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (“Take-Twoâ€) (NASDAQ: TTWO - News) in an all-cash merger valued at approximately $2.0 billion.
EA’s proposal of $26 per share in cash represents a premium of 64 percent over Take-Two’s closing stock price on Feb. 15th, the last trading day before EA sent its revised proposal to Take-Two, and a 63 percent premium over Take-Two’s 30-day trailing average price over the thirty trading days ending on that date.
EA’s proposal was contained in a letter sent on Feb. 19th by EA Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello to Strauss Zelnick, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Take-Two. The Take-Two Board’s subsequent rejection of the EA proposal led to EA’s decision to release the letter and bring its proposal to the attention of all Take-Two shareholders.
Mr. Riccitiello said today: “Our all-cash proposal is a unique opportunity for Take-Two shareholders to realize immediate value at a substantial premium, while creating long-term value for EA shareholders. Take-Two’s game designers would also benefit from EA’s financial resources, stable, game-focused management team, and strong global publishing capabilities.â€
The EA letter warned that further Take-Two delay in accepting EA’s proposal could prevent Take-Two’s shareholders and other constituents from realizing its benefits. “There can be no certainty that in the future EA or any other buyer would pay the same high premium we are offering today,†Mr. Riccitiello wrote. The letter added that timely completion of the proposed transaction would allow EA’s strong publishing and distribution network to positively impact the ongoing post-launch sales of GTA IV and support the new Take-Two titles scheduled for launch later in the year and during the holiday selling season.
As noted in EA’s Feb. 19th letter, EA’s proposal is not conditioned on any financing requirement. It is, however, subject to certain customary conditions as set forth in the letter. EA’s $26 per share proposal is based on the current equity capitalization of Take-Two. Although EA indicated in the letter that its proposal was subject to negotiations commencing by Feb. 22nd, EA intends to keep its proposal open for the present to give Take-Two’s shareholders and Board of Directors further time to consider it.
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PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
This DOES give them Irrational games though, I think, and all of the 2k stuff.
Who can now make System Shock 3. For real. From the original team.
Microsoft to by Rockstar in a few months? You heard it here first.
Seriously, Take2 refused but now they are asking their stockholders to sell their share. Its interesting. And although I'm sure some stockholders will sell their shares, I think Take2 is going to remain independant for the time being.
I see EA trying to fight back some of their lost ground in the face of the Activision monster. GTA will help.
My Little Game Blog - http://profundospielen.blogspot.com/
I thought it was Tribes 2..
I never asked for this!
Let's hope they don't go through with it.
Although EA is truly offering quite an amazing deal, or so it seems.
I just can't imagine a world where EA owns just so many important, and so many enormous mainstream franchises all to itself.
I can't imagine the same company owning Grand Theft Auto and Madden.
edit: Ok it doesn't give them R*.. so they don't get the GTA license, assuming this goes through?
But doesn't it likely mean that they'd end up being GTA's publishers?
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Edit: I am confused.
That they dont want any competition for Madden?
Or that it is a smart business move mirroring the consolidation of the movie industry in the 50s and 60s.
At this point, EA and Activision, and to a lesser extent Ubisoft, could easily represent Universal, or Fox etc.
2K games and Take2 are the same?!
Btw, irrational games was renamed 2k austrailia or something.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Two They own a decent amount of developers.
It's unclear because the specifics of the Rockstar tie with T2 are unknown.
My best guess, EA would at best own the GTA license but I dont think they get Rockstar in any circumstance.
Im pretty sure I read somewhere that R* are going independent after GTA4. Or soon. Im not sure.
Either way, T2 is worth a lot less without them.
R* is becoming independent.
So that means that EA, if this goes through, gets to publish GTA IV. But they don't "get" R*, thus they don't "get" GTA IV out of the deal.
Essentially, R* would, in subsequent GTAs, choose which publisher they wanted to publish the game, yes?
Why would they not have EA publish it anyway, since they'd have absorbed their former publisher in such a scenario?
I guess the important question is who owns the GTA ip?
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Another likely scenario certainly.
I think the cost to produce games is driving this spate of mergers though.
I would use monopolization instead of consolidation personally. This would be worse then shit movies though,this would be shit games with a "meh we own everything,what else they gonna buy? loloz lets release GTA IIVX" attitude.
That means that if T2 goes through with this deal, then EA would take over the publishing of GTA 4 and then it ends there.
R* could still make the games as they see fit, on a schedule they see fit.
If T2 had owned the IP, and EA bought them, then EA could have whatever dev team they wanted crank out subsequent sequels at whatever schedule they pleased.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
I agree,and its a brilliant business move on top of it for ea. And it DOES allow alot of games we might not even see in shit or good form due to much more budget allotments available. But i still don't think it will be a good thing.
The contract expires in February 2009. Pachter speculated about Rockstar breaking off, but he could easily be wrong.
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50234
Competition is good, the gaming industry is quickly becoming a monopoly.
I'm not. It cost too much money to develop and market a console. Let somebody else make the console and you just make the games for it. It's the easier way.
I am going to say in the next 30 years. Certainly not in the next decade though.
Supposing this deal goes through. EA have basically all the sports games.
An EA console is scarily viable in that scenario.
With GTA games too, that's it. Game over. EA won.
Not me. EA wouldnt spend the literal billions to try and grab a 4th market share. It would have to be ridiculously brilliant with a ungodly lineup of launch games to even convince people to look at it. MS spent billions getting marketshare from Sony. EA dosent those kinda of billions to throw around that easy,and dosent have Sony's already-in-place hardware production.
GTA isn't really a driving force in sales anymore. If the name really was golden, all the PSP spinoffs would have sold kerjillions.
Yes, that's a real number.
Nah EA isn't in the hardware business like Sony or MS or Nintendo. I wouldn't expect an EA console any time soon.
Oh but think if there was no more dumbass college people on xbox live who just bought an xbox for madden. No more yearly rehashes of madden and every other sports game. Glorious! I could just avoid one console and be rid of everything that is shitty about gaming.
I never asked for this!
As long as EA doesn't get the IP to GTA, I'm okay with this.
If EA had the IP to GTA, God knows what would happen with the series outside of R*'s direct control.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen. "
For a PSP game, GTA on the PSP did sell a ton.
2M is a shit ton for a PSP game.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games