Well as was expected, and we reported earlier, EA has extended the deadline for Take Two investors to accept, or indeed reject, their offer.

The amount offered remains the same at $25.74 per share. And the new deadline is now 11.59 pm EST on Monday, the 16th of June. However, one of the options available is for shareholders to extend this date further, if they so wish.

This was revealed in a statement by Owen Mahoney, Senior VP of EA Corporate Development. He also revealed the number of shares tendered in as of last Friday, which stands at roughly 8% of the company:

“EA’s offer price remains unchanged at $25.74 per share and our offer is still subject to conditions that include regulatory approval. As stated earlier, we retain the right to terminate the offer if the conditions are not satisfied.”

“As of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, May 16, 2008, approximately 6,210,261 shares of Take-Two had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the tender offer”

For anyone who really wants to read through the whole corporate statement, it can be found here:

Take Two’s Board has responded to EA’s decision by continuing to recommend that shareholders not tender in their shares, believing that this offer continues to undervalue the company. Chairman of the Board Strauss Zelnick said:

"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."

Also of interest is that Take Two is now in contact with other parties, Zelnick continues:

“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."

Also, Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take Two, has been in on the act, taking this as an opportunity to highlight Take Two’s assets in the form of Grand Theft Auto IV’s recent success and the forthcoming Bioshock movie:

“In the last several weeks, our strategy and Take-Two’s value have been vividly demonstrated by two notable events. The record-breaking sales performance of Grand Theft Auto IV in its first week of release confirmed its status as the most successful video game launch of all time and as a blockbuster on par with any entertainment product ever released. We have also just announced an agreement with Universal Pictures to make BioShock, the universally acclaimed hit video game, into a feature film, demonstrating how Take-Two is delivering value from our powerful and wholly-owned intellectual property.”