T2 chairman: EA’s US$ 2 billion doesn’t acknowledge GTA’s worth

Perhaps it’s a good thing that the management of Take-Two Interactive took the necessary steps to protect employees in the event of a company buy out. As it is, Electronic Arts has already taken the steps to do so: EA recently made a US$ 2 billion offer to Take-Two shareholders.

More on these developments in the full article after the jump.

In a move that may have elicited a double take, Electronic Arts (EA) reportedly skirted Take-Two Interactive management and went directly to Take-Two shareholders. The offer: US$ 26 (for a grand total of US$ 2 billion) for each Take-Two share.

In response to this, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick claimed that the amount undervalues his company:

Electronic Arts’ offer doesn’t acknowledge the value of games including Grand Theft. It ignored the tremendous operational progress we’ve made in the past year.

Zelnick did say, however, that he would be willing to discuss the offer after the release of Grand Theft Auto 4 (PS3, Xbox 360).

Perhaps Take Two Interactive’s modifications to its employees’ severance plan couldn’t have come at a better time. Nevertheless, EA’s new offer is set to expire at midnight on April 11, so we’ll wait and see what happens.

If you’d like to see the full details of the tender offer given by EA, feel free to follow the link below to download the PDF file that contains all the specifics.

Via eatake2.com