Electronic Arts Abandons Take-Two Acquisition

From DailyTech: Electronic Arts has abandoned its bid to acquire Take-Two Interactive. For the past six months Electronic Arts has been attempting to acquire its competitor. In February, Electronic Arts put forward a formal offer to acquire Take-Two Interactive in an all-cash merger valued at approximately $2.0 billion at $26 per share. Take-Two rejected that offer and all subsequent offers claiming the bids undervalued the value of the company. In August, Electronic Arts and Take-Two signed a confidentiality agreement after agreeing to hold private talks about a potential deal.

In a press release on Sunday, Electronic Arts made their intention to abandon the deal clear:

While EA continues to have a high regard for Take-Two's creative teams and products, after careful consideration, including a management presentation and review of other due diligence materials provided by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., EA has decided not to make a proposal to acquire Take-Two and has terminated discussions with Take-Two.

Take Two was unapologetic in their response stating the Electronic Arts offer as unsolicited and rejected by their stockholders:

Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of the Board of Take-Two, commented, "We remain focused on creating value for our stockholders and our consumers. This has been our goal since EA launched its conditional and unsolicited bid six months ago, a bid which was repeatedly rejected by our stockholders. As part of that commitment, we remain actively engaged in discussions with other parties in the context of our formal process to consider strategic alternatives.

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