FTC wants to talk to EA...again

by: Dan - posted: 4/17/2008 8:26:00 AM

Electronic Arts received a second request from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding EA's unsolicited bid to acquire Take-Two Interactive. More than likely, this is just the FTC doing its homework, as this type of transaction probably wouldn't constitute any anti-competitive actions. However, with all the acquisitions that have taken place in the game publishing and developing world the last several years, the FTC may be looking to stem the flood a bit...Check out all the details in the EA release after the jump:

Apr 17, 2008 08:00

EA Receives Second Request From FTC

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Apr. 17, 2008 Electronic Arts Inc. ("EA") (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that it received a second request for information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") regarding its proposed acquisition of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. ("Take-Two") (NASDAQ:TTWO).

While EA believes that its proposed transaction with Take-Two would not be anti-competitive, the FTC has not yet reached any conclusions regarding the proposed acquisition and has indicated that it needs further information and additional time to conduct its review.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell securities of Take-Two. The offer to purchase or solicitation of offers to sell is being made pursuant to a Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO (including the Offer to Purchase, Letter of Transmittal and other related offer documents) filed by EA and EA08 Acquisition Corp. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on March 13, 2008. Before making any decision with respect to the offer, Take-Two stockholders are advised to read these documents, as they may be amended or supplemented from time to time, and any other documents relating to the tender offer that are filed with the SEC carefully and in their entirety because they contain important information, including the terms and conditions of the offer. These documents may be obtained at no charge by directing a request by mail to Georgeson, Inc., 199 Water Street, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10038, or by calling toll-free at (800) 213-0473, and may also be obtained at no charge at the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.

This release does not constitute a solicitation of proxies in connection with any matter to be considered at Take-Two's 2008 annual meeting of stockholders. Neither EA nor its subsidiary making the tender offer is soliciting, or intends to solicit, proxies in respect of any matter to be considered at Take-Two's 2008 annual meeting.