EA's been trying to buy Valve for a while

[Kadayi]

No company is ever safe from being taken over.

It's a private company. It's not a case of they can be 'taken over', it's a case of the shareholders in the company would choose to sell themselves to another firm if they thought the offer was too good to refuse. Short of a serious rival to Steam coming to the fore and all the big studios completely eschewing selling their games through Steam and Valves profitability plummeting I'm not seeing that likely happening anytime soon. However the actual appeal for buying valve lies in Steam tbh. Development wise they're not the big name powerhouse they used to be, especially when it comes to the console space (not helped by a lot of gaben trashtalking tbh).

[Lukasz]

taken over is not the same as hostile taken over. hostile is when company A buys slowly company B over the period of few years against the wishes of management who cannot do anything against that (shareholders can fight it tough by simply voting a no sale policies if they think company A is getting too much power inside the company. there are other methods too)

a private company can be taken over anytime (unless there is an issue of monopoly) when shareholders agree to do that. it cannot be hostile, but it is 'take over'

[deano2099]

a private company can be taken over anytime (unless there is an issue of monopoly) when shareholders agree to do that. it cannot be hostile, but it is 'take over'

Only in the same way I takeover oranges when I buy them from the shop.

Does anyone else know if Gabe is the only shareholder? If he does want to retire he can always appoint someone else to run the company while still owning it. It's not an either/or.

[Lukasz]

Only in the same way I takeover oranges when I buy them from the shop.

takeover is perfectly valid legal term which i never heard being applied to oranges. had used it and read about it tough and wrote assignment about it..
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-02-0...er-deal/319688

Does anyone else know if Gabe is the only shareholder?

list of people with nonsense descriptions (although witty)
http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/people.html
no idea to be honest who is second in command. Isn't it faliszek?

If he does want to retire he can always appoint someone else to run the company while still owning it. It's not an either/or.

then he won't retire. he won't be running company on daily basis but as an owner he will have responsibilities. he can keep shares for himself tough and retire from doing anything and having any real responsibility but he would have to get rid of most of his shares in the company... if he is currently main owner of the whole company. without actually seeing their constitution and few other documents its hard to speculate on how likely is for valve to become part of EA or Act in case of Gabe telling everyone to fuck off or in case of his death.

[Kadayi]

a private company can be taken over anytime (unless there is an issue of monopoly) when shareholders agree to do that. it cannot be hostile, but it is 'take over'

It's called a buy out. A takeover is always viewed as a hostile action.

[Nalano]

list of people with nonsense descriptions (although witty)
http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/people.html
no idea to be honest who is second in command. Isn't it faliszek?

Gabe owns more than fifty percent of the company and the company is not publicly traded. Gabe owns the company. Simple as that.

[Lukasz]

It's called a buy out. A takeover is always viewed as a hostile action.

no.
its hostile takeover. read the article. takeover does not to be hostile.

[Lukasz]

Gabe owns more than fifty percent of the company and the company

thx for the article.

is not publicly traded. Gabe owns the company. Simple as that.

we do know that. not sure what your point is. i don't think anyone here questioned the fact that he is the main owner. just how much he owns...

[TechnicalBen]

The company has no shareholders. It cannot be taken over. Gabe owns it all (or the equivalent of all of it)!

[Kadayi]

no.
its hostile takeover. read the article. takeover does not to be hostile.

1) Learn to capitalize.

2) Understand the difference between publicly traded companies and privately owned companies.

[Lukasz]

The company has no shareholders. It cannot be taken over. Gabe owns it all (or the equivalent of all of it)!

companies have shareholders. always (well okay. one man business technically and legally does not... in a way. more complicated than that.)

shares is not the same as stock.

and yeah. what i am saying that yes. it can be taken over. because you can sell company. gabe can sell it. if he is sole owner he doesn't need to answer to anyone. but if he is not sole owner even if he has majority of shares, he has to ensure minority is not hurt or put in disadvantage.

and when he sells his shares in a company (not stock. that's different) that will be a takeover (for example EA will buy valve. it will take over Valve)

1) Learn to capitalize.

2) Understand the difference between publicly traded companies and privately owned companies.

I do. As I spent 3 years studying that and I owned my own company, I know the difference. If all takeovers are hostile then there is no reason for a term "hostile takeover" to exist.

Apologies for capitalizing but really? That is your argument?

[Barnox]

To summarise:

You can't buy/own any of it if they aren't selling any of it.
At the moment, there is no way to own any of Valve.

To the best of my knowledge, Valve are not distributing either shares or stock. Please, point me to sources if I am wrong.
No company needs to sell things publicly. If they are making enough cash without doing that risky business (oh, hello Steam), they have no need to.

[Hypernetic]

companies have shareholders. always (well okay. one man business technically and legally does not... in a way. more complicated than that.)

shares is not the same as stock.

and yeah. what i am saying that yes. it can be taken over. because you can sell company. gabe can sell it. if he is sole owner he doesn't need to answer to anyone. but if he is not sole owner even if he has majority of shares, he has to ensure minority is not hurt or put in disadvantage.

and when he sells his shares in a company (not stock. that's different) that will be a takeover (for example EA will buy valve. it will take over Valve)


I do. As I spent 3 years studying that and I owned my own company, I know the difference. If all takeovers are hostile then there is no reason for a term "hostile takeover" to exist.

Apologies for capitalizing but really? That is your argument?

That would be a buyout. Yes, the buyer would "take over" control of the company, but no it's not a "take over".

Also this whole discussion is pointless, Gabe isn't selling Valve and EA couldn't afford to buy Valve. Valve is still growing at an impressive rate and they have plans to enter the hardware market. In the next 5-10 years it's entirely possible that Valve will be larger than Activision/Blizzard. In fact it's entirely possible that Valve's total equity is greater than EA's already.

[Lukasz]

That would be a buyout. Yes, the buyer would "take over" control of the company, but no it's not a "take over".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeover

apparently in UK the takeover is indeed used solely for public companies (but it does not need to be hostile) for private it is acquisition.
A mistake on my part for assuming we all speak one language. In Australia it is "take over". Acquisition, buy out, same. You can use the term "take over" to discuss how private company was sold off to another party.

Also this whole discussion is pointless, Gabe isn't selling Valve and EA couldn't afford to buy Valve. Valve is still growing at an impressive rate and they have plans to enter the hardware market. In the next 5-10 years it's entirely possible that Valve will be larger than Activision/Blizzard. In fact it's entirely possible that Valve's total equity is greater than EA's already.

I agree. Highly unlikely.

[Stense]

Valve, I have half a pack of liquorice Allsorts and a a spare change jar with at least £2.39 in that could all be yours if you accept my buy out offer. Interested?

[Nalano]

Valve, I have half a pack of liquorice Allsorts and a a spare change jar with at least £2.39 in that could all be yours if you accept my buy out offer. Interested?

No, but if you can make a game out of that, they might hire you.

[TechnicalBen]

Lukaz, but you cannot "take over" a company that is not for sale. We were referring specifically to how EA could not buy into shares, but the same applies to buying of any kind if Gabe is not selling.

Think of a number, add more zeros to it. Then double it. Then times it by the number of starts in the universe and offer it in $$$ to Gabe. He will still say no, because he does not want (or is that need?) the money, but does want to own the company known as Steam. With Gabe out of the picture, then yes, we could expect trading, selling or the entire company to turn into a balloon factory for all it's worth.

[Lukasz]

Lukaz, but you cannot "take over" a company that is not for sale. We were referring specifically to how EA could not buy into shares, but the same applies to buying of any kind if Gabe is not selling.

of course. but that was not the point. i think we all agree that chance of valve being taken over/acquired/bought out is very slim. we argued whether in case of private company the term is a correct one. In UK it is not according to wiki. in australia it is a correct one.

[TechnicalBen]

Fine have it your way. :P

"RPS is not safe right now. There is a risk they could be taken over at any moment! Our sources tell us Techy Ben has offered £1 to buy them out in a hostile takeover of the company. More news at 6."

Do you agree with the above statement? If not, the same applies to Valve...

[Lukasz]

Fine have it your way. :P

"RPS is not safe right now. There is a risk they could be taken over at any moment! Our sources tell us Techy Ben has offered £1 to buy them out in a hostile takeover of the company. More news at 6."

Do you agree with the above statement? If not, the same applies to Valve...

what the hell are you talking about. Yes. Valve, RPS can be bought anytime. thats a fact. Is that likely? with valve not very. With RPS... possible!