Pachter: EA, Take-Two to close deal before April 10 |
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The touted acquisition of publisher Take-Two Interactive by rival Electronic Arts is likely to be completed by April 10 - perhaps earlier - if talks go well between the respective managements of both companies. This is according to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter."We expect that in order to save face, Take-Two management will withdraw its demand that any discussions wait until after the launch of Grand Theft Auto 4 (Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360), and we think that management will engage in discussions with EA," says Pachter.
The analyst added that there's no question investors will jump at the offer if EA raises its bid to purchase Take-Two at somewhere close to US$ 27 per share from its initial proposal of US$ 26 a pop. Pachter believes that EA is likely to be convinced by Take-Two with such a setup.
GTA 4 is set to launch next month and is expected to draw in huge figures. The analyst community says that six million units should fly off shelves in the first week alone, while a total of nine million should cap off the first month.
Pachter says Take-Two should make some US$ 450 million in revenues from GTA 4, which is almost half of the US$ 1.073 billion the company is projected to make by the time fiscal 2008 is done. Total profits should hit the US$ 175 million mark.
However, the success of GTA 4 is not likely to cover the losses of Take-Two as a whole this fiscal cycle. Pachter notes that aside from the next Midnight Club game, the publisher's lineup looks weak, enough to force the hand of management to go for the EA deal.
Buy: [GTA IV (PS3)]
Buy: [GTA IV (Xbox 360)]
Via GamesIndustry
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Comments [refresh]
Oh goodie EA tightens its grip on the game market, lets hope they make GTA suck as much as there other title and put an end to this over rated franchise once and for all.
How can a company do a hostile take over on another company?
And this can't be good for GTA games...
The problem is that Zelnick obviously doesn't know what he's doing (on the gaming side), so now his investors are bucking. It's becoming more and more evident that Zelnick ticked the wrong people off. Isn't that right, Pachter?
when your front-guy is a lawyer...your entertainment company has gone to hell. So, I mention Zelnick because he's the front-guy...feel free to include Feder, Goldstein, and the others...
That's sick! I will not buy it. It is heartless and pervert game. No thanks!
Okay, I understand that you don't want EA to consume yet another publisher, shrinking the pool even more than they already have. That's sensible. What I DON'T understand is your motivation behind wanting them to destroy GTA. Who would that benefit? If the franchise is so overrated, wouldn't you hope that it gets better so that it could one day actually have a chance at living up to it's hype? I get that you feel GTA gets far more recognition than it deserves, and to an extent I agree. But if you don't enjoy the game, do what I do..... don't play it. I'm sure there's a franchise you love that somebody's hoping gets destroyed, which also makes no sense. Lowering the bar on quality is always a bad thing, regardless of the franchise.
A hostile takeover basically just means the management/board of directors etc of the company being taken over is against the takeover. Throw enough money at the investors though, and they'll bite, regardless of reccomendations by leaders of the company being acquired. This can be very bad news, as it can destroy the morale of the employees taken over, and create a good bit of animosity toward the larger company. In many cases, there will be mass resignations etc... leaving you with the company's intellectual property and nothing else. In this case, I think that's what EA wants. They want the GTA name, regardless of whether they lose the developers behind it (Rockstar). Rockstar is free to leave whenever they want, but they don't own the GTA name, Take Two does. If they leave, they can never make another game and call it GTA. EA on the other hand, can make GTA Baking, GTA Tennis, GTA Fashion Model Extreme, etc. It's theirs to do as they please.
"It is heartless and pervert game"? WTF? Can I have some of what you're smoking?
Puff Puff Pass Master Chef
I think he's being sarcastic about wanting GTA to suck, and GTA is not over hyped. GTA San Andreas was ONE of the greatest games I've ever played.