EA has once again pushed back the deadline for its bid for Take Two – this time until Tuesday, August 19th.

The publisher’s deadline expired at the end of last week without any news, and EA has now announced that it has delayed the deadline for Take Two shareholders to accept or decline its bid.

The firm said that the delay would allow the Federal Trade Commission’s review of EA’s hostile bid to continue.

The announcement is the fifth time the publisher has postponed the expiration date for the deal – having previously pushed it back in March, April, May and June.

An EA investor release sent out today read:

Electronic Arts announced today that it has extended its tender offer for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock (including the associated preferred stock purchase rights) of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. ("Take-Two") (NASDAQ:TTWO) to 11:59
p.m., New York City time, on August 18, 2008, unless further extended.

The tender offer was previously set to expire at 11:59 p.m., New York
City time, on July 18, 2008.

‘Extending the tender offer allows the FTC review process to continue. The proposed transaction is still subject to certain conditions that include regulatory approval. EA retains the right to terminate the offer if the conditions are not satisfied.

‘As of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, July 18, 2008, approximately 11,741,339 shares of Take-Two had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the tender offer.’