Take-Two: The Cost of Fighting EA

According to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Take Two Interactive spent close to 11.1 million dollars to fend off EA’s hostile take-over. Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick, who fought hard against being acquired by EA for a good portion of 2008, presided over a large decline in the company’s stock price - well before the economy at large had a chance to put it to its lowest 52 week ever: $8.50. The stock, which rose to nearly $28 a share, fell dramatically after EA gave up on acquiring the company.

Shortly after EA walked away many analysts said that Take-Two had made a mistake. Of course, given the economic climate we are now in, that position is hard to justify: EA has had its own share of hardships recently and has cancelled projects, closed studios and - most recently - laid off over 1000 workers.. If not for the banking and mortgage industries, who knows what state both companies would be in..