SCi rebuffs mystery suitor

Eidos parent refuses offer from unnamed third party, saying it undervalued the company and wouldn't fix finances.

Posted Apr 23, 2008 12:59 pm PT

While Take-Two Interactive has grabbed the majority of the headlines following EA's $26 per share--now $25.74--buyout offer, it isn't the only publisher grappling with acquisition offers. Beginning last September, ailing publisher and Eidos parent SCi Entertainment said it was entertaining purchase offers, with Ubisoft, Midway, Time Warner, and an unnamed Chinese company, all named as potential suitors.

Last week, British tabloid The Daily Mail reignited SCi buyout speculation, saying NBC Universal--a joint venture of General Electric's NBC and Vivendi SA--was "putting the finishing touches" on a £50 million (about $99 million) placing and rights issuance. While SCi confirmed several days after the fact that it was currently entertaining an offer, it did not explicitly name NBC Universal as the suitor.

Today, SCi's board said it had turned down the mystery buyout offer on the grounds that it undervalued the company and failed to provide necessary financial stability. It issued a statement that read: "The Board considers, amongst other things, that the proposal does not represent sufficient value and that, given the group's significant short- to medium-term funding requirements, the pursuit of an uncertain takeover proposal with consequent delay and risks to the company's proposed issuance of new equity to fund the execution of its revised strategic plan would not be in the best interests of the company or its shareholders."

Following dismal back half of the year results in February, SCi said that it needed to immediately raise between £45 million (about $89 million) and £55 million (about $109 million) in working capital. As part of the earnings statement, SCi announced significant restructuring efforts, cutting 200 jobs and canning 14 unspecified games in the process. The publisher also said it would be refocusing its publishing efforts around established franchises, such as Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, and creating a new casual gaming label, Eidos Play.

17 Comments

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Hedfix

They should sell off those 14 unfinished games. I'm sure someone like Majesco would happily take a punt on finishing them off and selling them.

Posted Apr 24, 2008 6:32 am PT
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devilmaycry2020

SCI should take a page from EA, roll out some bad games and STILL make some money off them

Posted Apr 24, 2008 2:15 am PT
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Petri87

truenextgen - Do you really think EA will buy two companys at the same time? And if they had to choose then it sure as hell wouldnt be SCI

Posted Apr 23, 2008 9:32 pm PT
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mysterylobster

I just know that this mystery Chinese company is somehow EA. I just know it.

Posted Apr 23, 2008 5:44 pm PT
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speed45823

good. finally...its bout time eidoes gets taken over. although they make good games, they havent done anything significant to live up the hype. i havent seen any new hitman ot thief series. instread we got kane n lynch.

Posted Apr 23, 2008 4:56 pm PT
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truenextgen

3rd. Well that takes out the systems. And so of its not Micro buying something out. I can only think EA again?

Posted Apr 23, 2008 3:40 pm PT
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equili3rium

Carmegeddon rocked! Funny as hell too!

Posted Apr 23, 2008 3:36 pm PT
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tony2077ca

pc games are going downhill thanks to pirates and i don't have the money to spend on games atm

Posted Apr 23, 2008 3:10 pm PT
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Pete5506

Hope they can get better

Posted Apr 23, 2008 3:06 pm PT
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cooldude03

Eidos has some great franchises that I'm very excited to see future releases. Thief, tomb raider, hitman and deus ex are just a few. But I'm also waiting for blood omen, sooner than later hopefully.

Posted Apr 23, 2008 2:37 pm PT
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hunter8man

SCi is the one company that should be looking to get bought out. They've been pretty much terrible with a couple of decent Tomb Raider games as of late. I wonder who this mystery suitor was?

Posted Apr 23, 2008 2:30 pm PT
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Origina1Penguin

I enjoy some of the games they put out. Hopefully things will get better for them.

Posted Apr 23, 2008 2:21 pm PT
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drewciferpike

"... and canning 14 unspecified games in the process."

That's what makes me sick. It's not like there's way too many good games on the market right now, and turning out some more will be a bad idea. Just a few minutes ago while I was out running errands, a manger of a local "Video Game Store" said:

"There are no third-party games that are any good for ANY system... they all suck."

When the people tasked with SELLING the friggin' games are saying that, I think the similar opinions popping up in forums gain a little weight.

In the end, the customer suffers (most of the time... hehe).

Posted Apr 23, 2008 1:39 pm PT
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Grimm_Death

Jesus, didn't see that one coming
Sucks for SCi
Hopefully some games won't suffer because of it!

Posted Apr 23, 2008 1:35 pm PT
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holenjd

Am I the only one who loved Carmegeddon? Evidently.

Posted Apr 23, 2008 1:34 pm PT
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VenomRitual

what games have sci made?

Posted Apr 23, 2008 1:31 pm PT
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pretty hard to undervalue SCI. Deus Ex is their best game. And its not like this would be a bad deal for SCI since they have been sinking for years now, just like Atari

Posted Apr 23, 2008 1:22 pm PT
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