Riccitiello: Take-Two deal was "waste of ink"
Electronic Arts CEO shrugs off time spent on GTA publisher acquisition attempt
John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, has dismissed the time spent trying to acquire Take-Two, labelling it a "waste of ink, primarily in the New York Post."
And he went on to describe the reasoning behind the move as an attempt "to help that company get through what has been an uneven profit experience," according to the Wall Street Journal.
Speaking at the Dow Jones-Nielsen Media and Money conference in New York, he summarised why the deal was called off by EA.
"Time was of the essence, because we wanted to impact Holiday 2008 sales of Grand Theft Auto IV... Take-Two told us to wait and that they wanted more money. We waited. We went through a variety of steps. The gap [in price] remained," he said.
The USD 2 billion Electronic Arts/Take-Two deal, which first hit the headlines back in February, rolled on until September before Riccitiello finally pulled the plug, and took place against the backdrop of a smooth and successful Activision Blizzard merger.