Electronic Arts Takes Last Roll Of The DICE

In the continuing saga of Electronic Arts’ attempts at a takeover of Swedish Battlefield 1942 developer Digital Illusions CE (DICE), news has emerged that the company has agreed to waive another of the conditions of its offer. When originally made, it was expected that that DICE shareholders would happily accept the takeover, especially since EA enjoyed the full backing of the DICE board. However a significant minority of shareholders blocked the deal and EA was forced to alter its offer from a 90 percent acquisition to just 50 percent. With the deadline for this second iteration of the deal set for January 20th, and no sign of agreement as yet, EA has gone further by waiving the condition of the deal that would guarantee them a majority 50 percent share in the company. Thus, Electronic Arts will still keep all the shares that it has acquired, but will not be able to properly control the company until it becomes the majority shareholder, presumably something it will aim for at a later date. The company has stated that it will not extend its deadline beyond January 20th, making it likely that the DICE shareholders will continue to negotiate with the giant publisher until the very end.