UPDATE 2-Electronic Arts offers $2 billion for Take-Two

Riccitiello has tried 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.

In an apparent gesture to head off concerns about a cultural mismatch, Riccitiello also highlighted EA's new label structure, saying it was designed to give creative teams more flexibility.

"I know we both agree that Take-Two's talented creative teams deserve a permanent home within a stable and growing publisher that provides these teams an environment to do what they do best -- create great games," Riccitiello wrote.

Shares of EA rose 79 cents, or 1.6 percent, to close at $49.74 on Nasdaq on Friday.

EA had $3.4 billion in cash and short-term investments at the end of December. (Additional reporting by Duncan Martell) (Editing by Gunna Dickson)