In another attempt to woo or perhaps now scare the investors of Take-Two, John Riccitiello the CEO of EA has issued a warning that if EA pulls out its bid then stock will likely dwindle.
Take-Two bosses have been keen to play this type of ‘friendly advice’ as scare mongering and an ‘underhanded’ method to buyout the company at such an underrated value.
“If we don’t conclude this transaction, if we walk because of whatever level of inability to get this done, the scary thing is what the stock trades at after we leave, not after 29 April,” he said.
EA have also made their true intentions clear, to acquire Rockstar Games and their intellectual properties. The 2K Sports label and its teams are a secondary concern for the publishing giant who it seems are now desperate to call Liberty City their own.
”I believe the company is fully justified in calling themselves Rockstar because that’s what they are in this industry,” complimented Riccitiello. ”The big headline here is that our primary interest is in Rockstar and the intellectual properties around Rockstar.”
EA has put a deadline to their $26 a share offer which expires on April 11, Take-Two hold their AGM on April 10.
John Riccitiello has been trying to show EA as a more creative company and lose some of its bad reputation as a ‘gut’n’run’ corporate buyer. It would seem that all this hostility toward Take-Two hasn’t gone unnoticed by some critics of EA despite their efforts.
While the company officially operates eatake2.com a less than official eattake2.com has sprung up parodying the buyout and likening one Riccitiello as Lord Riccivader head of Evil Acquirers Inc. A good and amusing read I must admit - well done guys.
”There is no doubt that EA is several times larger than Take Two - everyday somebody walks in and somebody walks out,” says Riccitiello. ”If the wrong guy walks out, we have an issue to deal with. But we don’t stop making games.”
So what is the fate of Take-Two, or perhaps what people really what to know is the fate of Rockstar Games, the Housers and Grand Theft Auto? We don’t want an Alderaan incident that’s for sure or EA will have a rebellion on their hands.
