Are Take-Two's days numbered? It would certainly seem so, as the publisher of Grand Theft Auto admitted today that it will consider a sale of the company as one way of combating aggressive shareholders who are trying to remove management and take control of the company.
Publisher Take-Two Interactive today revealed that it may consider putting itself on the block as a defense against a group of investors who are trying to take control of the company and oust current CEO Paul Eibeler. The company postponed its annual meeting from March 23 to March 29 "to provide additional time to review the proposed actions of the shareholder group and also to evaluate alternative courses of actions that could potentially be presented to the shareholders."
Shareholders in Take-Two have been frustrated with the company's five quarters of losses. The company has also been embroiled in a stock options backdating scandal that saw former CEO Ryan Brant plead guilty. The prominent investors looking to seize control of Take-Two include OppenheimerFunds, D.E. Shaw Valence Portfolios, S.A.C. Capital Management and Tudor Investment.
Take-Two noted that for now, "There is no assurance that any specific alternative proposal will be forthcoming." Nevertheless, analysts are already making predictions as to who will purchase the publisher behind the hugely successful Grand Theft Auto. Mike Hickey, an analyst at Janco Partners, told Bloomberg.com that Take-Two has "absolutely brilliant product but the management team has proven its inability to execute over the past couple of years," and he added that leading video game publisher Electronic Arts would be a likely candidate to buy Take-Two. Hickey also explained that private equity firms are probably not as interested because of the "lumpiness'' in revenue and profit.
The news of the possible sale sent shares in Take-Two up $1.30 (about seven percent) to $22.15 during morning trading today.
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