Take-Two Interactive Software keeps putting on the brakes, but the creator of Grand Theft Auto ultimately will fall into the arms of $2 billion suitor Electronic Arts, an analyst says.

On Wednesday, Take-Two said that its board and financial advisors Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers had determined that EA's $26 per share offer was "inadequate." The company also disclosed that its board of directors had adopted a shareholders' rights agreement, commonly known as a "poison pill," to thwart EA's takeover attempt.

In Thursday afternoon trading, shares of Take-Two edged down $.06, or .2 percent, to $25.85, while Electronic Arts sagged $.65, or 1.3 percent, to $48.81.

Take-Two said that it plans to explore "strategic alternatives" after the scheduled April 29 release of Grand Theft Auto IV and that the company has "received indications of interest from third parties" about possible business combinations. Sterne Agee & Leach analyst Arvind Bhatia, however, discounted the chances a rival bid would emerge, pointing out that Take-Two acknowledged that "no substantive discussions have occurred" with alternative suitors.

No. 1 videogame company Electronic Arts went public with its hostile offer for Take-Two in February after a behind-the-scenes courtship that stretched back more than a year.

New York City-based Take-Two said EA's offer does not reflect its restructuring efforts that are expected to save at least $25 million per year. EA's $26 per share tender offer is scheduled to expire on April 11, but could be extended.

In a government filing issued Thursday, EA said its $26 per share offer "is full and fair" and warned that in urging shareholders to reject the bid, Take-Two's board "may reduce the value and the certainty of a potential transaction."

In a presentation Wednesday at a Bank of America investment conference, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said equity analysts estimate merger synergies could save EA $50 million to $210 million per year, or $6 to $29 per share, if a merger were to be completed.

As part of the maneuvering, Take-Two also postponed its annual meeting from April 10 to April 17.

Take-Two's poison pill would let current shareholders buy shares at a discount if a potential acquirer initiated a tender offer or accumulated 20 percent or more of the company's common stock. Poison pills are intended to make an acquisition prohibitively expensive.