EA/Take Two Deal Update: No Updates

Dating back to February, Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Take Two (TTWO) were pitted against each other in a very public corporate takeover battle. For months, the companies issued dueling press releases and went back and forth in SEC filings. On August 18 that process ended. Electronic Arts announced they were allowing their Tender Offer to expire. In reply, Take Two invited the formerly hostile suitor to review documents on a possible path toward a friendly merger. 

Monday, the companies filed one last document, an 8K announcing they’d entered into a new material agreement – one assuring confidentiality in all their future discussions.

The update from the companies is there will be no more updates. From here on in, and for the foreseeable future, the roller-coaster ride of back and forth press releases is officially closed. Silence will be golden. The next news flash will be a deal, or no deal (there’s no promise anything will happen).

From the 8K filing: “The terms of the confidentiality agreement prohibit each of EA and Take-Two from, among other things, publicly disclosing the status or terms of any discussions or negotiations between EA and Take-Two unless EA or Take-Two notifies the other that it is terminating discussions. As a result, EA does not intend to make any further announcements regarding the status of any discussions or negotiations with Take-Two unless and until discussions between EA and Take-Two have been terminated or such parties have entered into a transaction. As previously disclosed, EA now requires due diligence to support any proposal to acquire Take-Two and there can be no assurance that any proposal, negotiations or transaction will result.”

For those tracking the deal, we’ve assembled a comprehensive chronological Deal Diary on Metue. The document outlines the majority of the news announcements since things began in February. It also includes historical stock prices to lend perspective.