RSSFTC clears EA's bid for Take-Two, talks continue
By Ed Oswald | Published August 21, 2008, 1:20 PM
The FTC has given EA the go-ahead to purchase the smaller rival, and EA has indicated that it had shifted strategies away from a hostile bid to more friendly talks.
US Federal Trade Commission approval of the deal had been something that was eluding EA for several months now. Along the way, the agency had extended its own deadline to approve the merger, most recently in early July until this Thursday.
In a letter sent to both companies, the agency said "that no additional action by the Commission is warranted at this time," which signals the go-ahead for the two companies to complete any possible merger.
Around the same time the FTC's decision was announced, EA indicated that it had shifted strategies in its attempts to acquire the company.
While Take-Two had initially pushed back heavily -- even despite calls from its own shareholders -- EA had originally decided to pursue a hostile bid. But apparently, whatever presentation the smaller game maker made to EA's board must have caught the eye of executives.
The original $25.74 per share bid was allowed to expire on August 18. However, EA indicates "confidential" discussions are now underway, meaning a new deal or proposal could be announced at any time.
"Our Board remains unwavering in its belief that EA's unsolicited conditional tender offer of $25.74 per share was inadequate and undervalued Take-Two's world-class entertainment franchises and our strong operational and financial performance," chairman Strauss Zelnick has said.
EA's response to BetaNews' inquiry is pending.
just continues to show the quality of news coming from betanews
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Meh... While annoying, things like that aren't really that big a deal. It's the constant barrage of rumors, bias, and personal opinion being reported as fact by Jaq that really reflect poorly on this site.
Ed's gotten a *lot* better on proofreading since the last bunch of unclosed italics/bolds/links. That was at least amusing at first. This is nothing as bad as that, and I do tend to enjoy reading his articles. They may not be the "hit generators" of Jaq's flamebait posts, but they are detailed, informative, and concise. Can't get much better than that.
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You guys love to point out the goofs. That was probably my fault when I added it at the last moment. Of course they never answered. (My editor says that belonged in another story as I'm typing this comment.)
I do appreciate the positive comments, though. Yeah, sometimes I do forget to close the bolds, but its not on purpose.
Nothing gets past you folks.
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Like I said, it's no big. Amusing, most of the time. We all make typos, it's just when it happens 3 times in one week that it sometimes gets annoying. ;) (But you haven't done that in quite some time, so....what are you waiting for???)
*grin*
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Comcast's response to Betanews inquiry is pending.
Is this in the wrong article?
Comcast?
Really?
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Maybe the Comcast Internet load throttling inquiry???
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Um. Oops.
We were adding update notices, and we put the wrong company in there. Fixed that.
Hey, you know...We generated six comments on that one little typo alone. With a few more misplaced commas, we could be a veritable Slashdot!
SF-3
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You don't even need that. Just let Jaq post more articles and allow user moderation. That'd about cover it.
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