f you have been following the daytime drama that is EA’s attempted Take-Two takeover, you know that the latest EA bid expired this past Friday. That in itself is not news, but the response from both parties early this week is. The $2 billion dollar deal originally was a part of a $25.74 per share offer by EA. Since GTA IV’s launch Take-Two’s stock value has risen to $27.10 per share, making it understandable why they chose to ignore the offer.

To the surprise of some and the expectation of others, Electronic Arts announced their intentions to once again extend their bid to buy Take-Two this morning. This extension will be the third since EA made its intentions public, and will continue through June 16. The offer remains at $25.74 a share. At this point in time, EA has only acquired 6,210,261 of Take-Two’s outstanding shares – equivalent of only 8.0% of the total.

Take-Two responded to the news this morning. Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of the Board of Take-Two, commented on the situation. "This is the same highly conditional proposal that EA offered Take-Two stockholders on March 13, 2008, which our Board of Directors thoroughly reviewed and unanimously determined to be inadequate and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two's stockholders. As such, the recommendation of our Board of Directors that stockholders not tender their shares to EA remains unchanged. The Board is committed to maximizing stockholder value and is exploring all strategic alternatives to do so. We said we were willing to begin formal discussions with interested parties on April 30, following the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, and we have in fact begun that process. We are confident in the significant growth potential of Take-Two and in the unique value of our business given our strong position in this growing and dynamic industry."

So the saga continues. If Take-Two is indeed in talks with interested parties we may have some news before the June 16 deadline. If not, we will see if EA is in this for the long run.