Square-Enix, Warner Bros. Vie Over Eidos
- Scribbled on December 4th, 2008 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Industry News
MCV UK is reporting that Square-Enix has entered a late bidding war with Warner Bros. to acquire Eidos.
Although national press reports have fingered EA and Ubisoft as potential buyers, nose-tappers are backing Warner as the victor. It already owns 20 per cent of the Britsoft firm, and would only have to spend around $30m for a controlling interest. A spend of around $80m would give it total control, putting Eidos’ current market value at around $120m…
…However, Square is making clear signals of serious interest. Global president Yoichi Wada has already visited Denmark’s IO Studio – Eidos’ developer of the Hitman franchise – and is set to return to the UK shortly to move the deal forward.
It’s an interesting battle – a media conglomerate competing with a Japanese game publisher for the rights to a British game publisher, while the usual major Western giants, Electronic Arts and UbiSoft, are not considered serious contenders.
The only major title Eidos owns is the Tomb Raider franchise at the moment, with Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures flopping.
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