Following yesterday's annual shareholders' meeting by Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts has modified its existing tender offer, which was originally scheduled to expire today. Reflecting Take-Two's decision made during yesterday's meeting to issue an additional 2 million shares of stock, EA has dropped its offer from $26 per share to $25.74, in order to keep the overall value of the offer at $2 billion. A press release issued by EA this morning says the company "continues to believe that the offer price is full and fair."
Take-Two was quick to respond with a release of their own, in which they reiterate their position from yesterday, which was to reiterate their position from the last few weeks, which is still, as it has always been, no, thanks. Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick repeated his stance from the meeting, saying, "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."
EA did point to some success on their part, mentioning in their release that as of press time, some 6.4 million shares of stock had been tendered under the offer. 6.4 million is certainly not a small number, admittedly, but it is significantly smaller than the near-77 million shares that actually exist, making the tendered shares only amount to 8.3%. EA's current offer has been extended to May 16th, roughly two weeks after the GTA4 launch.
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