EA extends takeover deadline

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. has for a third time extended the deadline for its $2 billion tender offer to buy smaller rival Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., but it did not raise the price as many analysts had expected.

Take-Two again spurned the offer price as too low while saying it has "begun the process" of formally talking to interested parties. EA is the only company that has publicly expressed interest in buying Take-Two and analysts aren't expecting another suitor to come forward.

Redwood City-based EA said Monday it is extending the offer, which had expired Friday, to June 16 at 8:59 p.m. PDT. The price remains $25.74 a share, although Take-Two's stock has not traded below $26 since May 1.