Take Two, the computer games company behind Grand Theft Auto, said it would look for a white knight in an attempt to see off a $2 billion bid from larger rival Electronic Arts (EA).

It also launched a poison pill to give it time to explore what it described as “indications of interest,” while fending off a bid that it said substantially undervalued the business.

Strauss Zelnick, Take Two’s chairman, who was brought in by investors to turn around the games company a year ago, accused EA of a bid that is “opportunistically timed to capture the value of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV launch at the expense of our stockholders”.

Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers have been retained to help “assemble the materials necessary for interested parties to conduct due diligence” and said, despite its rhetoric about EA’s current offer, that it would be willing to include its competitor in those discussions.

The next instalment of the hugely successful, but controversial console game is due to be released on April 29. The previous instalment, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas sold over 20 million copies.

What is not clear is whether any major media group would be willing to take on Grand Theft Auto — a title developed in Edinburgh. Vivendi, the only games company with the size to rival Electronic Arts, is not thought to be interested, but large US media groups are likely to at least explore the idea.

Take Two said that Electronic Arts $26 a share offer had failed to take into account $25 million of cost savings, and potential synergies, estimated broadly at between $50 million and $210 million. Brokers estimate Take Two’s net income for the year to October will be around $115 million, meaning that, if achieved, the synergies from both cost cutting and better worldwide distribution would significantly boost Take Two’s profitability.

The poison pill is designed to prevent any one investor holding over 20 per cent of the company’s stock, and is intended to last from 180 days from its adoption. Oppenheimer, the fund manager that is already a 22.6 per cent holder, is partly exempt from the rule, and is able to acquire a further 2 per cent of the company, before it falls foul of the poison pill.

Poison pills are legal under Delaware law, where Take Two is incorporated, although their use can be controversial. Take Two is already subject of a shareholder lawsuit for rejecting the EA bid. EA has an open hostile offer, with a deadline for acceptances currently set at April 11.

Strauss Zelnick and his management team would collect $39.96 million if the EA bid went through at $26 a share, but that figure will rise to $78.96 million if Take Two’s forthcoming annual meeting agrees an extra bonus, put in place by the board last month, after EA’s interest had been declared privately.

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