Take Two Meltdown?

FOR SALE:

Badly mismanaged video game corporation with good IP assets. Some travel required (Federal Trade Commission hearings in Washington D.C. and lawsuit defense in Fayette, Alabama); must be prepared to clean house. $15 per share or best offer. Owner must sell!! Call 1-800-TakeTwo. Ask for Paul...

Between the acrimonious departure of director Barbara Kaczynski and the company's being named to Business 2.0's list of 2005's 101 Dumbest Moments in Business, it has been a bleak few days for Take Two, but we didn't realize just how bad things were.

Citing a New York Post report, Kotaku reports that the Grand Theft Auto publisher is looking for a lifeline in the form of a buyout.

An unnamed "source close to the company" told the Post, "For a fund, it is a bet that the cash flows from sales of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Liberty City Tales, and new management could get around the growing liabilities."

As Kotaku points out, "The geniuses running the company have managed to burn through $200 million in cash in the past year, leaving just $100 million. This week, an analyst also rated the stock a 'sell'..."

MarketWatch has more on Take Two's financial straits.