MyQJ | QJ.NET | Apple | Mobile | Science | MMORPG | Nintendo DS | Wii | World of Warcraft | PlayStation 3 | PSP | Xbox 360 | Gadgets | PC Gaming | Age of Conan | Downloads | QJ.NET Forums

Bizarre love triangle: shareholder sues Take-Two over EA's buyout offer

Posted Mar 11, 2008 at 11:26AM by Isaac C. Listed in: News Tags: Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick
Ó

Take-Two sued by shareholder over EA buyout rejection - Image 1 


And it's a one-two punch. After doing a bit of damage control to reassure its employees after Electronic Arts tried to buy out their company, Take-Two Interactive is slammed with a lawsuit. The funny thing is, it was filed by one of T2's very own shareholders.

The lawsuit alleges that Take-Two purposely kept EA's US$ 2 billion buyout offer a secret so that it could enrich its senior executives. Apparently, T2 approved a measure to increase management compensation in case of a takeover just days after the offer.

The compensation approved by the board raised the fees and bonuses that will be received by ZelnickMedia's management in case the company was sold. From US$ 3.8 million, it was raised to an "exorbitant" (as the lawsuit described it) US$ 16.5 million.

The lawsuit claims that the actions they took to respond to EA's offer (or as the lawsuit phrases it: "outright rejection of EA’s offers and failure to negotiate") represents a failure to "reasonably respond" and "maximize shareholder value."

The lawsuit, filed by Patrick Solomon, specifically calls out Strauss Zelnick and Benjamin Feder, the partners of ZelnickMedia. In response to the lawsuit, the company replied: "We believe that the claims lack merit, and intend to defend vigorously against them."

[Via The New York Times] Permalink  |   Email this  |   Linking Blogs   |   Digg It!

Bookmark / Find this article on:

10 Jumps     Square Enix reveals plans of taking over Tecmo
8 Jumps     Quartermann: Max Payne 3, a new Rockstar PS3 exclusive title, more
7 Jumps     Blockbuster, Riteaid, 7-Eleven to carry PSN cards by September
5 Jumps     Yoshinori Ono: Street Fighter IV not an entertainment video game; don'..
5 Jumps     Live from the Himalayas: The Last Guy 'developer interview' trailer
4 Jumps     PixelJunk on 'roids: Savage Moon first details, screens
4 Jumps     Play Fallout 3 at the Penny Arcade Expo 2008
4 Jumps     Blizzard: WoW for PS3, 360 is a 'square peg, round hole thing'
4 Jumps     Austin GDC 08 to help charity
3 Jumps     Red Line replaces Transmission Games as Sin City developer

2 Comments


Sort by:
   by Advertising -
   by RexNox - 2008-03-11
 » I hate to say...
I told you so...but.

The angle doesn't seem complete though. The issue of secrecy doesn't change anything.

The problem is overall stockholder value because they are issuing options after taking on more inefficient solutions. However, T2 can easily argue that EA's reputation could easily injure their brands and therefore, it is not a viable option. And, I would agree.

   by nnjacowboy - 2008-03-12
 » lol...
What? You mean rich white guys are conducting behind the scenes meetings to fill their pockets with even more millions of dollars?! I'm shocked! Look, I don't want EA to buyout Take-Two anymore than any other self respecting gamer but kudos to this shareholder. The people that just care about getting rich are ruining the game industry and forcing piracy to skyrocket(as reported in another qj.net story) because the price of games has gotten ridiculous. it doesn't cost $10,000,000 to make a hit blockbuster game...they make it cost that much so that they can reem us at the checkout line. GO INDEPENDENT GAMERS! Check out a game called Crayon Physics Deluxe to see what I mean. This guy didn't spend millions and made one of the coolest games I've seen in years. If this game doesn't make it onto the DS then Nintendo is high.



Featured Content
Contact
QJ.NET Blog Network RSS Feeds
MyQJ Feed / PDA
MyQJ RSS / PDA
Blog of Blogs Feed / PDA
QJ.NET RSS / PDA
Gaming Consoles Feed / PDA
Nintendo DS RSS / PDA
PlayStation 3 RSS / PDA
PSP Updates RSS / PDA
Wii RSS / PDA
Xbox 360 RSS / PDA
PC Gaming Feed / PDA
Age of Conan RSS / PDA
Games for Windows RSS / PDA
MMORPG RSS / PDA
Tabula Rasa RSS / PDA
World of Warcraft RSS / PDA
Science Feed / PDA
Science RSS / PDA
Technology Feed / PDA
Apple RSS / PDA
Gadgets RSS / PDA
Mobile RSS / PDA
Photography RSS / PDA
Tech RSS / PDA
Add QJ.NET
Add to My Yahoo!
Google Reader Subscribe with Bloglines
Add to your Kinja digest Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Subscribe with Pluck RSS reader Add 'www.qj.net' to Newsburst from CNET News.com
Subscribe with SearchFox RSS del.icio.us www.qj.net
Add to Technorati Favorite! Add to My AOL
furl! it Stumble for Treehugger!
User Favorites - August
Most Commented
(86)
(68)
(43)
(39)
(37)
(34)
(33)
(32)
(32)
(29)
(24)
(24)
(23)
(21)
(19)
(19)
(19)
(18)
(16)
(15)
User Favorites - August
Top Jumps
PlayStation 3 backups runni.. (288)
PlayStation 3 homebrew gets.. (157)
Metal Gear Acid "possible.. (111)
Kojima: stop asking for an .. (104)
EA reveals Need for Speed U.. (86)
Hideo Kojima might stay for.. (83)
Leipzig: new 160GB PS3-Unch.. (75)
Thai official wants to pros.. (74)
Japan: Xbox 360 gets boost,.. (73)
Survey: Parents more concer.. (64)
Music industry on game devs.. (63)
Street Fighter Alpha Coming.. (61)
It's gonna be a Sony-Ninte.. (58)
LittleBigPlanet's Amazon t.. (56)
FFXIII info from Famitsu! D.. (55)
Nintendo tops worldwide har.. (54)
Star Wars: The Force Unleas.. (50)
80GB PS3 Core System goes f.. (50)
Capcom's got a "frelling .. (49)
Survey says: Xbox 360 gets .. (49)
Peter Moore on fight agains.. (48)
Star Wars: The Force Unleas.. (48)
Leipzig: Heavy Rain trailer.. (47)
PS3 homebrew: BD-J Flight 3.. (46)
BioShock PS3 dated (46)

 Username: 
 Password:
Forgot password
New user registration



Categories

Titles
Archives


Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the TERMS & CONDITIONS and PRIVACY POLICY
Copyright © 2006, Content Holdings, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Version. 1.31