EA extends Take-Two takeover offer to Aug. 18

With another deadline in EA's takeover bid come and gone, the industry's #2 publisher isn't quitting and has reaffirmed it still wants to gobble up Take-Two by extending its $25.74 per share offer deadline to Aug 18. EA currently has only 15% of Take-Two's stock, which translates to 11,741,339 shares. Obviously, EA needs over half the shares to complete the takeover.

Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick released a statement that the company's board is "100% committed to maximizing stockholder value," calling EA's bid "inadequate" and recommending stockholders not take the EA offer. He says that Take-Two is currently "engaged in meaningful discussions with multiple parties" and that some of those groups have been conducting due diligence (a fancy legal term for checking under a company's hood and making sure everything looks kosher). Meanwhile, the FTC is probing the deal over possible antitrust issues and should be finished by Aug. 21.

Source – EA extends deadline to Aug. 18
Source – Take-Two responds to fifth extension