Report: SCi execs in peril

Back in September, Eidos parent company SCi Entertainment announced that it was in "extremely preliminary" talks with a potential acquirer. In the following months, Ubisoft, Time Warner, Midway, and an unnamed Chinese company were all reported as being in talks with the publisher of the Tomb Raider and Hitman franchises. However, last week the publisher announced that it had ended talks about an acquisition, saying it didn't believe it could get full value for its operation. SCi responded by shedding more than half its value in a single day.

While such a turn of events would be a cause for concern for any investor, The Sunday Times is reporting that some Eidos shareholders are demanding resignations from key members of the management team. According to the report, one "top investor" described SCi founder and CEO Jane Cavanagh's position as "untenable," with commercial director Bill Ennis and chairman Tim Ryan also the subject of shareholder ire. According to the report, finance director Phil Rogers is expected to take over as interim CEO should Cavanagh step down.

The Sunday Times also suggests that an SCi acquisition was never close to completion, and sources close to the company said the board didn't receive a single firm offer for the operation. Representatives with Eidos had not returned GameSpot's requests for comment as of press time.

Eidos is not the only publisher to face boardroom upheaval after getting on the wrong side of its shareholders. Last year, a group of Take-Two Interactive investors seized control of the company by voting out the board of directors and replacing the members with their own choices. Before board members were given their walking papers, Take-Two publicly raised the possibility of an acquisition as a last-ditch effort to raise the stock price and satiate angry shareholders. No buyer was found, and the board member change went through as planned.