FTC gives EA its blessing to go ahead with Take-Two takeover
A lot of opinions and analysis has been given from all angles in regards to the EA-Take Two acquisition. But here’s one that really does matter. The FTC has concluded its non-public investigation on the matter and they’ve basically given EA the green light for it. What were their findings? Find out after the jump.
The wait is finally over for Electronic Arts — at least as far as the Fedral Trade Commission is concerned. A couple of months ago, EA made an agreement with the FTC stating that they will hold out on buying Take-Two until one of these two things happen: a) FTC finishes its investigation on the takeover bid, or b) 45 days pass after EA complies with an information request from FTC.
Well it looks like it’s scenario A that happened as the Federal Trade Commission has now given EA the green light on their proposal for the Take-Two acquisition. The conclusion of the non-public investigation, which was to determine whether EA’s acquisition of T2 may violoate Section 7 of the Clayton Act or Section 5 of the FTC Act, was that the potential merger would not substantially lessen competition in the games market.
A letter sent by the FTC to both companies involved read, “Upon further review of this matter, it now appears that no additional action by the Commission is warranted at this time. Accordingly, the investigation has been closed.”
Talks are still going on between the two companies, but it does look like it’s about to come to a close. What’s keeping the debate raging on is the issue on the appropriate per-share asking price. With this FTC development, it looks like Pachter sure is a step closer to proving his prediction true: EA will win out this round.
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