Electronic Arts Proposes to Acquire Take-Two Interactive Software for $26 Per Share in Cash, or Approximately $2.0 Billion
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"Electronic Arts announced today that it has purchased the holding company that owns BioWare [Mass Effect] and Pandemic Studios [Mercenaries 2]. The acquisition will cost EA about $775 million, which includes a $650 million cash payment to the stockholders of VG Holding Corp., which directly owns the two developers, and an additional $155 million in equity to select VG employees. As part of the agreement, EA said it plans to lend up to $35 million to the company through the closing of the deal, expected in January. EA will also assume outstanding VG Holding Corp. stock options. VG Holding is owned by Elevation Partners, which invested $300 million in BioWare and Pandemic in November 2005, creating one of the world's best-funded and largest independent game development houses."
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"In today's EA investor conference call, CEO John Riccitiello was asked by analysts whether the company's PlayStation 3 development process had caught up with its Xbox 360 development process, an issue that had led to delays at a number of publishers. 'Not quite,' Riccitiello said, adding 'There's no doubt that Electronic Arts, along with many other publishers, had some challenges essentially meeting the technical specifications effectively on the PlayStation 3.' "
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I'm pleased to announce that EA has made a proposal to acquire Take-Two. We've issued a press release that explains why the deal is attractive for the shareholders of both Take-Two and EA. Now I want to share some perspective on why it would be good for the people who make Take-Two's games and, just as important, the people who play them.
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