Electronic Arts, led by CEO John Riccitiello, made a $2 billion bid to acquire ArchLord online Take-Two. But Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick held out on the offer until EA dropped its bid several months after the initial offering. Bhatia said he would expect a potential Take-Two buyout price of $1.9-$2.4 billion.
Activision, which has $3.5 billion in cash and no debt, could pull off an all-cash or predominantly-cash deal, he said. Bhatia also said, "Take-Two will benefit from being part of a large entity with deep pockets -- a must in the next generation cycle when rising development costs archlord gold powerleveling will make it more difficult for smaller players to thrive."
The jewel in Take-Two's crown from a commercial standpoint is the immensely popular Grand Theft Auto series -- GTA IV has sold over 17 million copies . But other Take-Two franchises have seen critical and commercial success, including BioShock, Civilization, NBA 2K11 and Red Dead Redemption. There are potential drawbacks to an acquisition of Take-Two by Activision, the analyst noted. Activision could run into powerleveling problems negotiating a new contract with key Rockstar North staff including Sam and Dan Houser and Leslie Benzies. Meanwhile, he said if Take-Two management sells the company, they may feel like they're selling too soon.
Recently management, which took over the company , finally reported a profitable year for the publisher without a major GTA release. Recent rumblings in the industry indicated that Activision was in acquisition talks with Take-Two, but the extent of those talks is unclear. In 2008, Electronic Arts, led by CEO John Riccitiello, made a $2 billion bid to acquire Take-Two. But Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick held out on the offer until EA dropped its bid several months after the initial offering. Bhatia said he would expect a potential Take-Two buyout price of $1.9-$2.4 billion. Activision, which has $3.5 billion in cash and no debt, could pull off an all-cash or predominantly-cash deal, he said.
