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EA drops $2 billion bid to acquire Take-Two

Announcement ends a seven-month takeover effort that turned hostile before the two companies entered private talks last month.

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Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Steven Musil

Electronic Arts has abandoned its $2 billion bid to acquire rival game maker Take-Two Interactive Software, ending a seven-month takeover effort that turned hostile before the two companies entered private talks last month.

"After careful consideration, including a management presentation and review of other due diligence materials provided by Take-Two Interactive Software, EA has decided not to make a proposal to acquire Take-Two and has terminated discussions with Take-Two," EA said in a statement Sunday.

The announcement brings to a close EA's long-running, but oft-rebuffed, effort to acquire Take-Two.

EA took its buyout offer public for the publisher of the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto franchise in February at $26 a share after Take-Two spurned an earlier attempt at a friendly takeover at $25 a share. Take-Two rejected the $26 offer as too low, and EA launched its hostile bid in March. EA subsequently reduced the offer to $25.74 a share. But repeated extensions and offer revisions seemed to hurt the company's credibility.

EA dropped its hostile bid in August after the two companies agreed to hold private talks about a potential transaction. A few days later, the Federal Trade Commission said it had conducted an investigation of a merger of the companies, but said no further action was required and closed the investigation.