Late last week, Electronic Arts announced they’ve secured an additional $1 billion for continual efforts to buyout publisher Take-Two Interactive. The months are ticking down because EA only has till January 2009 to make the acquisition happen.
EA said that "approximately $2.1 billion would be required to purchase all Shares pursuant to the Offer and the Merger and to pay related fees and expenses," in a recent financial filing statement.
Back in February, EA tried and failed to buyout Take-Two Interactive with $2 billion. Despite being rejected, EA remained keen on acquiring the publisher with many analysts and critics citing the bidding move as aggressive and hostile.
With the immense success of GTA IV, which sold 6 million copies earning $500 million in its first week of release, Take-Two may be feeling a bit more comfortable without EA breathing down their necks.
In addition, rival publisher Activision’s latest Q4 financial results are pretty even with EA; the company may be scrambling to pick up a publisher quick to bolster its forces again.
[Via Gamasutra]
