Take-Two Burns $5.3M on EA Takeover Legal Fees, Profits on Strong Sales of GTA 4

Grand Theft Auto IV publisher Take-Two spent millions to defend against the recent hostile takeover attempt by rival publisher Electronic Arts.

The news comes out of Take-Two's second quarter financial statement, which noted it had spent "$5.3 million in professional fees and legal expenses, with the majority related to Electronic Arts' unsolicited tender offer."

The company should be able to easily absorb the costs, after pulling in profits of $98.2 million, a marked improvement from its 2007 second quarter loss of $51.2 million.

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV has sold 8.5 million units to date, with 11 million shipped to retailers. The game managed to move 6 million units in its first week, amounting to some $500 million in revenue.

2K Boston and 2K Australia's underwater action title BioShock also did well for publisher Take-Two, with 2.2 million copies sold to date across both the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. A PlayStation 3 version is planned for release in October.