Electronic Arts extends Take-Two offer deadline

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday it extended by one month its $2 billion hostile offer to acquire rival video game maker Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

EA, whose unsolicited bid for the publisher of last month's blockbuster "Grand Theft Auto IV" video game expired at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, said the offer would expire on June 16, extended from the previous deadline of May 16.

EA said about 6.2 million shares, or about 8 percent, of Take-Two had been tendered in the offer. Take-Two has rejected the bid, saying it undervalues the company.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission previously asked for more information about the proposed buyout. Extending the tender deadline will allow the FTC's review of the proposed deal to continue, EA's senior vice president of EA corporate development, Owen Mahoney, said in a statement.

Additional details were not immediately available.

Take-Two shares closed Friday at $27.10 on Nasdaq, some 5.2 percent above the $25.74 per share offered by Electronic Arts.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore and Jessica Hall in Philadelphia; Editing by Kim Coghill and Dave Zimmerman)