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[UbiSoftologist]

1. Bloomberg's report (link)

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- SCi Entertainment Group Plc, the maker of the ``The Great Escape'' computer game, may this week offer to buy Eidos Plc, which makes the Tomb Raider video game, the Sunday Telegraph reported, without saying where it got the information.

SCi, which is based in London, is currently carrying out due diligence. Eidos said earlier this month it was in talks that may lead to a 75 million-pound ($144.1 million) offer, according to the paper.

London-based Eidos may also receive offers from venture capitalist companies Elevation Partners LP and Francisco Partners LP as well as Paris-based UbiSoft Entertainment SA, Europe's second-largest maker of video games.

2. Sunday Telegraph's article (link)

SCi could make a play for Lara Croft creator
By Andrew Murray-Watson (Filed: 20/03/2005)


SCi Entertainment, the computer games publisher, may be poised to make an eleventh-hour bid to buy Eidos, the beleaguered creator of Lara Croft.

It is believed that SCi is currently carrying out due diligence that may lead to a formal bid for Eidos as early as this week. Other interested parties are believed to include Elevation Partners and Francisco Partners, the US venture capital firms, and French games giant Ubisoft.

Eidos said earlier this month that it was in talks with a suitor that could result in a 53p-per-share, or £75m, offer being made for the company. Bankers believe the company is now in talks with a number of other parties interested in buying the whole company or some of its intellectual property. Eidos's shares rose by 8.3 per cent or 3.25p to 39.25p on Friday.

Royal Bank of Scotland has extended £23m in finance to the company until March 25. By that date, Eidos needs to have secured alternative financing or received a formal takeover offer.

It is believed Eidos may be able to secure vendor financing against future sales of its latest Championship Manager football game, which was released on Friday.

 

[UbiSoftologist]

I am surprised that neither T2 nor THQ is interested in acquiring Eidos on the cheap. On the one hand, the talent at Rockstar could revitalize the TR and Hitman franchises, making T2 a ''3-hit wonder.'' On the other hand, Eidos' mature-themed IPs could make THQ less reliant upon licensed contents and kids' titles. If I were at the helm of T2, I would rather buy out Eidos than compete head-to-head with EA in the sports arena to diversify the product portfolio.

 

[teruterubozu]

That would be interesting. SCi did Galleon by Toby Gard. Give Tomb Raider back to him maybe?

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

That would be interesting. SCi did Galleon by Toby Gard. Give Tomb Raider back to him maybe?

Might be the only way to make the franchise decent again, but seriously, does anyone still care about TR after it's been run into the ground the past few times?

 

[MassiveAttack]

That would be interesting. SCi did Galleon by Toby Gard. Give Tomb Raider back to him maybe?

He's already working on the next Tomb Raider at Crystal Dynamics. Of course, that may have changed.

 

[dark10x]

Might be the only way to make the franchise decent again, but seriously, does anyone still care about TR after it's been run into the ground the past few times?

AoD was actually pretty good, though. It was just unfinished...

That's the only TR game I had enjoyed since TR2, though.

 

[jarrod]

I am surprised that neither T2 nor THQ is interested in acquiring Eidos on the cheap. On the one hand, the talent at Rockstar could revitalize the TR and Hitman franchises, making T2 a ''3-hit wonder.'' On the other hand, Eidos' mature-themed IPs could make THQ less reliant upon licensed contents and kids' titles. If I were at the helm of T2, I would rather buy out Eidos than compete head-to-head with EA in the sports arena to diversify the product portfolio.

They might be afraid of too much redundantcy buying out another publisher. Eidos has some decent teams too (Crystal Dynamics, Core Design, IO Interactive) it's not just their IPs that're valuable. SCi doesn't really have strong American distribution networks or strong internal studios, so this would be more of a win/win for them versus THQ or Take Two.