EA extends takeover bid for Take-Two Interactive

EA’s initial deadline for shareholders to accept its offer expired Friday at 11:59 pm (0359 GMT Saturday) in New York. The new deadline is set for June 16 at the same time, EA said in a statement.

The Redwood City, California-based EA said the terms of its offer remain unchanged at 25.74 dollars a share for Take-Two.

EA took its two-billion-dollar offer directly to Take-Two shareholders after the board of directors rejected the bid, saying it undervalues the company behind blockbuster video games including the hot "Grand Theft Auto" franchise.

Take-Twos board refused to discuss a takeover with EA prior to the April 29 launch of "Grand Theft Auto IV: Liberty City Stories," which tallied a record-breaking 500 million dollars in sales in its first week.

The "GTA" franchise is as controversial as it is popular because of its violence. Players score points with acts such as carjacking and killing prostitutes or police officers.

Analysts credit "GTA: IV" with causing US video game software sales to surge to 1.23 billion dollars in April as compared to 839 million dollars during the same month a year earlier.

While EA maintains it factored the predictable success of "GTA: IV" into its offer, analysts believe the games superstar performance puts pressure on the worlds largest video game maker to up the ante.

Take-Two might have additional leverage due to a freshly announced deal with Universal Pictures to have its "Bioshock" video game made into a movie directed by Gore Verbinski, who directed the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy.