Take-Two Responds To New EA Offer

Officials from Take-Two Interactive have issued a press release formally rejecting the latest version of Electronic Arts’ hostile takeover offer, in which the company reduced its previous offer of $26 per share of common stock to $25.74 per share in cash. As well as reducing the offer price, to account for additional shares being issued to Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick’s Zelnick Media, the restatement of Electronic Arts’ offer also extended the deadline for a second time, to 11.59pm EDT on May 16th. Noting that only around 8.3 percent of Take-Two's outstanding shares have been tendered into Electronic Arts’ offer as of Thursday April 17th, Zelnick commented: “The minuscule number of shares tendered, as well as the strong vote in favor of the proposals presented at our annual meeting, offer indisputable evidence that our stockholders regard our efforts to enhance Take-Two's stockholder value as superior to the EA offer.” "This is the same highly conditional proposal that EA offered Take-Two stockholders on March 13th, 2008, which our board of directors thoroughly reviewed and unanimously determined to be inadequate and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two's stockholders. Take-Two's board of directors has maintained from the beginning, and continues to believe, that EA's proposal undervalues our company. It undervalued the company at $26 per share, and it certainly undervalues Take-Two at $25.74." "EA's highly conditional offer fails to compensate our stockholders for our exceptional portfolio of intellectual property, world-class creative resources, and our successful revitalization initiatives. The recommendation of our board of directors that stockholders not tender their shares to EA remains unchanged." “The Board is committed to maximizing stockholder value and continues to explore all strategic alternatives, including a business combination with third parties, remaining independent, or other strategic or financial alternatives. We have received expressions of interest from a number of interested parties and look forward to beginning formal discussions following the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV.” “The board continues to believe that we will be best positioned, from the perspective of both value and timing, to move forward at that time. We are confident in the significant growth potential of Take-Two and in the unique value of our business given our strong position in this dynamic industry," Zelnick concluded.