Pachter says Take-Two's rejection of EA is a mistake

Take-Two Interactive surprised a lot of people by not letting itself get bought up by rival Electronic Arts, but not everyone is impressed. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, for one, says the decision is a mistake.

"We think that the Board has virtually no chance of finding a better offer," says the analyst. "this deal... makes more sense for EA than for any other company, primarily because of the synergies from consolidation of the two companies' sports businesses."

Pachter understands that Take-Two is banking on the imminent success of its main attraction Grand Theft Auto 4 (Playstation 3 and Xbox 360) next month, but says that the publisher's decision not to sell is "naive at best". He adds that Take-Two's US 17 per share value won't be able to come close to EA's US 26 per share offer even after GTA 4 goes out.

Further, Pachter says that if Take-Two settled for a friendly deal, EA might have given an additional US 1 on each share just to sweeten the deal. Now, he says that if EA ever decides to come back to the negotiating table post GTA 4, they'll be offering Take-Two lower rates.

Pachter acknowledges that EA is being opportunistic about the whole matter, but he sees it as a beneficial situation to both companies. He concludes that Take-Two may end up losing more money in the future as an effect of today's decisions.