SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc said on Sunday it wants to buy rival Take-Two Interactive Software Inc, best known for its "Grand Theft Auto" title, for about $2.0 billion in cash.
The $26-per-share offer by Electronic Arts, publisher of blockbuster games like "Madden" and "Need for Speed," represents a 50 percent premium to Take Two's
The offer follows months of speculation that Take-Two would be acquired by a major games publisher or media publisher.
It would be the most significant video game company deal since Activision Inc
A key question would be whether EA could retain the Rockstar studio behind the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise, said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan.
"Of the video game companies that could manage Take-Two's assets, EA could do it," Pachter said.
"But the Rockstar guys are not the classic kind of studio that fits into the EA fold," Pachter said. "It seems like an awful lot to pay for 'GTA' with no guarantee that the team sticks around and is not a great cultural fit."
EA said it made the $26-per-share proposal after an earlier offer at $25 was rejected by Take-Two.
EA said that the rejection of the EA proposal by Take-Two's board prompted EA to release the letter and bring its proposal to the attention of all Take-Two shareholders.
A former EA executive who ran private equity firm Elevation Partners, Riccitiello returned as EA's CEO last April. He set about trying to revitalize the company by reorganizing it into four divisions, or labels, and in October engineered the purchase of two top independent game studios, Bioware and Pandemic, in a deal worth up to $860 million.
Shares of EA rose 79 cents, or 1.6 percent, to close at $49.74 on Nasdaq on Friday.
(Reporting by Duncan Martell; editing by Gunna Dickson)
