News Room Contributor Posts: 4179 Joined: 12 Nov 2002 | Take-Two Shareholders Slash Stock in Company
The drama at Take-Two continues to mount as the company's two biggest shareholders have slashed their holdings in the company.
Oppenheimer Funds, the largest single holders of Take-Two stock, cut its interest in the company in half, from 23 percent to 11.5 percent, representing 8.8 million shares. The second-largest investor in the company, FMR LLC, reduced its stock even more dramatically, from 14.7 percent to 2.75 percent.
The concern now is that the moves will undermine Take-Two's postition that Electronic Arts' buyout offer of $1.9 billion is too low. Industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan said, "To the extent there was speculation that shareholders would band together and hold out for more money from EA, that's kind of shot down now. They are voting on this deal and they are voting with their feet. They know they have no leverage."
Shareholders have also launched a lawsuit in Delaware against company management, claiming that its refusal to explore the offer but then subsequently arranging large payout packages for executives if the company is taken over amounts to "breaches of fiduciary duty."
Company chairman Strauss Zelnick recently said he believes Take-Two has a "really bright future as an independent company," but added that he was willing to engage in further negotiations with EA following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV in April.
Permalink |
Paperboy Posts: 11 Joined: 18 Jul 2006 | Ive seen this coming and it's terrible news for the industry as a whole.
From now on big players will think twice before trying to stay independent and refusing an offer such as EA's.
EA will now continue to try reaching a broader market by moderating game content and thus killing creativity.
Expect moderate games, and lots of 'm. |
Press Junketeer Posts: 428 Joined: 6 Feb 2008 | no surprises there. Fickle investors in a fickle market. Just the way it is. |
Paperboy Posts: 39 Joined: 6 Nov 2007 | You can see what they're doing, selling some stock while the price is good and hoping that it'll fuel the buyout so they can cash in. Its kinda sad that its coming to this situation but that's the way the market works I guess. |
Press Junketeer Posts: 393 Joined: 13 Jul 2006 | Investors are obviously in it for the money. They invested in Take-Two to make money, not games. When EA brought a pile of cash to the table, the investor's eyes lit up. Take-Two's management obviously wants to secure their future, while the investors wanted to take the money and run.
We need the glory days of game development again... you know, the guy that literally programmed a game in his bedroom closet and designed monochrome tile graphics on grid paper. ;-) |
Copy Clerk Posts: 86 Joined: 4 Oct 2007 | |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1745 Joined: 14 Nov 2007 | Echolocating:
Investors are obviously in it for the money. They invested in Take-Two to make money, not games. When EA brought a pile of cash to the table, the investor's eyes lit up. Take-Two's management obviously wants to secure their future, while the investors wanted to take the money and run.
We need the glory days of game development again... you know, the guy that literally programmed a game in his bedroom closet and designed monochrome tile graphics on grid paper. ;-)
That's the joy of freeware. Some absolutely genius stuff is coming from dudes modifying game engines, programming Flash and the like. Portal started out as a freeware project. 'Nuff said. |
Take-Two Shareholders Slash Stock in Company
The drama at Take-Two continues to mount as the company's two biggest shareholders have slashed their holdings in the company.
Oppenheimer Funds, the largest single holders of Take-Two stock, cut its interest in the company in half, from 23 percent to 11.5 percent, representing 8.8 million shares. The second-largest investor in the company, FMR LLC, reduced its stock even more dramatically, from 14.7 percent to 2.75 percent.
The concern now is that the moves will undermine Take-Two's postition that Electronic Arts' buyout offer of $1.9 billion is too low. Industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan said, "To the extent there was speculation that shareholders would band together and hold out for more money from EA, that's kind of shot down now. They are voting on this deal and they are voting with their feet. They know they have no leverage."
Shareholders have also launched a lawsuit in Delaware against company management, claiming that its refusal to explore the offer but then subsequently arranging large payout packages for executives if the company is taken over amounts to "breaches of fiduciary duty."
Company chairman Strauss Zelnick recently said he believes Take-Two has a "really bright future as an independent company," but added that he was willing to engage in further negotiations with EA following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV in April.
Permalink