EA Ditches Take Two Acquisition

Electronic Arts has ditched its takeover bid of Take Two Interactive Software, causing Take Two stock to plummet almost 30 percent in Monday premarket trading, Reuters reported.

Take Two is the publisher of the "Grand Theft Auto" series of video games.

"EA has been consistent in their approach regarding value and our shareholders have repeatedly rejected the price they offered. There's very little else more that meets the eye," Take Two Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick in an interview, Reuters reported.

EA and Take Two entered takeover talks last month. EA offered $25.74 per share of Take Two stock, for a total of $2 billion, which Take Two rejected as an inadequate offer.

Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of the Board of Take-Two, commented in a statement, "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."

EA's decision to call of the takeover came after EA heard Take Two's three-year product plans and saw due diligence of Take Two's books during the talks.

"We were very convinced the value of the transaction would decline over time and have come to feel more and more strongly about our own business," EA Senior Vice President for Corporate Development Owen Mahoney said in an interview on Sunday, Reuters reported.