Take-Two Activists Give Game a Bad Name

The Take-Two Interactive(TTWO Quote) saga continues, with Electronic Arts(ERTS Quote) having gone hostile with its previous $26 a share offer for the company that was made public on Feb. 24. The EA offer represented a 50% premium for Take-Two's shareholders. Yet, Take-Two's board and management team rejected the offer as "too low," especially in light of the pending April release of the next installment of their Grand Theft Auto video game franchise.

Take-Two has a history of a lurching stock price and financial and legal scandals.

Last year, it culminated in a sizable number of Take-Two shareholders openly revolting and seizing control of the company.

Back then, the video game publisher couldn't get its act together. The stock's price had dropped by 50% in the summer of 2006, going to $10 after financial and legal problems surfaced. Its founder admitted to backdating stock options, and discussions of a possible buyout with EA, which hadn't been publicly disclosed until a couple of weeks ago, fizzled. ...