Electronic Arts said today that it will not acquire publisher Take-Two until after the Federal Trade Commission finishes reviewing the acquisition for potential antitrust concerns (via Reuters). The FTC has until August 21 to complete its probe and we're betting they won't finish early.

After an innumerable amount of extensions, EA now says, because of the investigation, its offer to Take Two shareholders has been extended to July 18, the last day of E3 Media and Business Summit. We suspect there'll be some thrilling behind the scenes action going on next week.

Even the Kiwis were no match for the armed and fully operational GameStop empire as it acquired New Zealand's largest independent gaming chain. GameDaily reports that New Zealand's The Gamesman will be absorbed into the GameStop collective and bring the company's presence in the country to 38 stores. This news confirms rumors from last month of The Gamesman's demise.

On the bright side, Phil McPhee, general manager of The Gamesman, says the move will "enhance the service and experience for customers." Wow, Gamesman's customer service must have been awful! Good thing it got bought out by GameStop.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, speaking with Les Echos, says the publisher has a $1.2 billion war chest for spending on acquisitions. The executive states the company needs to grow rapidly to keep pace with publishers like EA (which may, or may not, acquire Take-Two) and the other 800 lbs. gorilla on the block, Activision Blizzard.

Guillemot says acquisition isn't the only way Ubisoft is growing. The company is getting involved in films and licensing, along with opening up new studios and pushing into Asia. He also states that the company will begin working on CG movies, starting with mini films based on its franchises at first, and then moving on to feature films. Hopefully, any Ubi-produced CG film will fare better than Square's Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

[Via GameDaily, Develop]

Epic Games today announced its acquisition of Utah-based Undertow developer, Chair Entertainment Group. Under directors Donald and Geremy Mustard, and CEO Ryan Holmes, Chair Entertainment becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Epic, keeping both its name and "its focus on creating new original game properties which utilize Epic's Unreal Engine technology."

We've placed the full press release, which contains the usual "We're thrilled to buy this awesome company!" and "We're so glad this amazing company bought us!" quotes, after the break. Not specifically mentioned is how the acquisition will affect Chair's Ender's Game projects, if at all. After requesting comment, we were promised an update "as soon as one is available." Funny, we were just about to tell you readers the same thing.

Super mega-huge publisher EA has announced a third extension of its tender offer for all outstanding shares of common Take-Two stock, pushing the previous deadline, which quietly passed by last Friday without so much as a hello, to 11:59PM EST on June 16, 2008. EA notes that as of 5:00PM EST on May 16, 2008, "approximately 6,210,261 shares of Take-Two had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the tender offer." In Take-Two's response, the publisher noted that said shares amount to 8% of the total.

The reason given for the latest extension seems to have less to do with virtuous patience and more to do with those pesky US Federal Trade Commission guys snooping around. "Extending our offer will allow the FTC review process to continue," said Owen Mahoney, Senior Vice President of EA Corporate Development, who added that the $25.74-per-share offer remained unchanged. The FTC sent EA a second request for information regarding the proposed takeover back in April.

Take-Two's Chairman of the Board, Strauss Zelnick, reiterated that the offer was inadequate and continued to advise stockholders to hold on while buyout discussions with "interested parties" continue.

Read -- EA announcement
Read -- Take-Two's response

And playing the part of the jilted lover in today's episode of As The Game Industry Turns is Infogrames, as the company confirmed that while it recently offered to purchase Eidos-owner SCi, the Atari-parent saw its bid turned aside "at this stage."

The timing of the news is particularly interesting, given that SCi last week said that it had rejected an unspecified acquisition offer, though it remains unknown if the publisher was talking about Infogrames or some other mystery suitor. Not long after, SCi accepted a £60 million investment from Warner Bros. as part of what it called a strategic relationship.

We know how you feel Infogrames (or is it Atari?). You put yourself out there, and you're vulnerable. But thankfully, it's not as if you don't have options.

Canadian dev SilverBirch, the force behind the DS and PSP versions of recent XBLA release, N+, has opened up its doors -- and wallet -- and acquired Netherlands-based publisher Lighthouse Interactive. SilverBirch calls the move a first step in the company's "strategy of building an integrated video game company."

The developer purchased all of the publisher's outstanding shares for CA$4 million, or $3.97 million in real currency, which it paid out as cash, a vendor note, shares of stock, and an earn-out based on fiscal 2008 financial performance. It's an interesting marriage, given SilverBirch's experience with portable titles as well as the MMO Metin 2, while Lighthouse is best recognized for steering sim and strategy titles for the PC. Wake us when Sword of the Stars comes to the DS.

While talk of a takeover of British publisher SCi continues to be tossed around, this doesn't mean that Lara Croft's troubled parent is open to shacking up with just anyone.

This week the company confirmed that it has received an offer from an unspecified suitor at a "significant premium" to SCi's current share price. However, the company stayed strong, turning away what we imagine to be bags of money emblazoned with dollar signs, claiming the offer was "not be in the best interests of the company or its shareholders." Still, with 14 projects in the vertical file and key management on the run, it might be time for SCi to lower its standards.

Not content with its sprawling store base across America, games retailer GameStop has continued its invasion expansion into Europe with the purchase of 49 stores in Norway, reports GamesIndustry.biz. The ubiquitous chain completed the transaction by ensnaring all of the outstanding share capital of "Free Record Shop," a business which, even to the layman's ear, doesn't sound terribly profitable. The acquired stores will now bear GameStop's brand and presumably start charging for their goods.

Capcom is certainly in the mood to spend money. On the heels of knotting up the rights to MotoGP for the next half-decade, the company has forked over enough cash to purchase Japanese dev K2, a studio known for such titles as Valhalla Knights as well as last year's abysmal Tenchu Z.

The purchase was made via an exchange of stock that's expected to be completed on May 1. Capcom failed to elaborate on its plans for the studio, however, noting only that the acquisition was made in order to make "its game development activities more efficient and speedy," leaving us wondering if Capcom plans to revisit the flailing Tenchu stealth action series at all or is simply adding cogs to its development machine.

Take-Two is appealing to stockholders not to consider EA's early-morning all cash tender offer, which pitched a purchase of the company's stock at $26 a share (a 4.4% premium over yesterday's closing price). The Take-Two board states it will review and consider EA's offer and, within 10 business days, advice stockholders of the board's position on the matter along with its reasoning.

The 10 day "please wait" request from the Take-Two board is still way within the April 11 deadline given by EA on its $26 per share offer to stockholders. EA wants Take-Two and it wants it bad.

With Take-Two Executive Chairman Strauss Zelnick having thoroughly rejected EA's initial buyout offer, the Madden and Burnout publisher has redirected its corporate Katamari at Take-Two shareholders. EA has announced the commencement of a tender offer for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock of Take-Two Interactive Software at $26 per share. Valued at approximately $2 billion, the offer reportedly represents a 64% premium over Take-Two's closing stock price on February 15, the company's last trading day before EA began its increasingly aggressive financial courtship. Compared to Wednesday's stock price, it constitutes a 4.4% premium.

Barring extension, the tender offer is good until midnight EST on Friday, April 11, 2008. EA CEO John Riccitiello described the offer as "a great opportunity for Take-Two shareholders" and as a a way to "maximize the value" of their investment. "For EA shareholders, the combination would add additional intellectual properties to our already strong portfolio and welcome Take-Two's talented creative teams to the great development organization we've built at EA," he concluded.

Will shareholders deem this offer welcomed financial assistance or unwanted financial insistence? We'll have to wait and see.

Apparently, one merger per decade is enough for Sega. Despite falling on some tough financial times recently, Sega has declared that it is decidedly not interested in getting bailed out by some generous big-time buyout (not that anyone else was necessarily interested, mind you).

In an interview with Reuters, Sega Sammy CEO Simon Jeffrey said his company isn't eager to ride the industry's recent wave of consolidation. "That's not an area we want to play in right now," he said. "We have no interest in being acquired, we are very happy with our position right now."

Buoyed by extremely strong sales of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Jeffrey seems perfectly content with his company's current sixth-place position in the game publisher rankings. "There is plenty of room for smaller companies to be successful and profitable in this business," he said. "You don't have to be number one or number two. You can be number six very happily," Jeffrey said. Chant along with us everybody: We're number six! We're number six!

No thanks, we don't need Jack. So says publisher EA, having rejected Florida's attorney at lawl, Jack Thompson, and his recent offer to assist in the attempted buyout of Grand Theft Auto publisher, Take-Two. In an impassioned letter, the spirited lawyer and friend of Mass Effect threw his support behind EA's (thus far unsuccessful) maneuver, claiming he would be "delighted" to help "evict the [Strauss] Zelnick Trojan Horse from within Take-Two's corporate walls."

Responding via e-mail (posted by GamesIndustry.biz), EA's Mariam Sughayer politely turns down the offer, saying, "In response to your offer to assist in the proposed acquisition of Take-Two, we would strongly prefer that you not get involved in this matter." Sughayer goes on to cite Thompson's past behavior towards gaming, "including false claims about content in [EA's] games," as a source of enmity, rendering any possible collaboration "impossible."

Like that hot catholic school girl with a penchant for acting tough, everyone seems to want a piece of Take-Two these days. The Associated Press is reporting on a recent SEC filing in which the company reveals its been approached with a few "informal indications of interest in a business combination" since EA's unsolicited buyout offer earlier this week. It makes sense ... after all, when if the most popular guy in school (read: EA) gets turned down by a relatively popular girl (read: Take-Two), then everyone else suddenly thinks they have a chance with her.

Like that goth girl with the spiked choker and way too much black mascara, though, Take-Two is acting like it doesn't want the attention. The filing goes on to say that the company "has not engaged in any substantive discussions with any party (including EA) with respect to a business combination." At least they're being direct about their lack of interest. Everyone knows the best way to ruin a business rep is by being a merger tease.