There's been funny business going around all week on this issue, what with shareholders suing Take-Two amidst allegations that certain executives may have deliberately stalled the process in order to net better compensation deals for themselves. Whatever the case, EA's officially done playing around. Today the kid gloves came off as a hardball offer from the mega-publisher zipped past Take-Two's board and landed straight in the laps of company shareholders.

As reported over on Next-Gen, Electronic Arts has just offered to compensate Take-Two shareholders directly with a princely offer of $26 per share to be paid immediately and directly to anybody willing to sell off their stake to Electronic Arts. In business terms: a hostile takeover.

Previous market valuation of Take-Two's stock (calculated right before EA's proposal was announced) was sitting at around $24.91 per common share -- a figure already substantially increased from the $15.83 per share that was trading before Electronic Arts started showing increased interest in the publisher back in February. In simple terms, this new deal represents a huge profit for any shareholder willing to immediately sell their stake in the GTA publisher to EA at the offered price. The total value of the proposal, if accepted by Take Two's combined shareholders, would set Electronic Arts back approximately $2 billion for de facto control over Take Two's business.

Now the ball is in Take-Two's court, as financial law requires the company to respond with an official statement within ten business days, advising its shareholders either to accept or refuse the deal. Technically, EA's $26-per-share offer expires on April 11th at midnight -- a date conveniently set one day after Take-Two's annual shareholder's meeting.

"This is a great opportunity for Take-Two shareholders" says EA CEO John Riccitiello. "We believe Take-Two investors will see our tender offer as the best way to maximize the value of their investment in Take-Two. This tender offer provides a clear process to complete the proposed transaction. For EA shareholders, the combination would add additional intellectual properties to our already strong portfolio and welcome Take-Two's talented creative teams to the great development organization we've built at EA."