SCi in takeover talks

London-based SCi Entertainment has confirmed that it is currently in talks with an unnamed company in anticipation of a possible buyout offer.

Under British law, publicly listed companies are required to make it known if a company or person becomes involved in a takeover bid, although the statement hastened to explain that the deal was at an "extremely preliminary" stage, and there was no guarantee it would go ahead.

The company statement reads, "Following the recent speculation in the press, the board of SCi Entertainment Group confirms that it has received an approach and as a result has entered into extremely preliminary discussions regarding a possible offer for the Company. No proposal has been received at this time, however, and there can be no certainty that any offer for the Company will be made or as to the terms of any such offer were one to be made."

SCi Games was founded in 1988 by Jane Cavanagh, who this year received an OBE for her services to the video games industry, and in May 2005 acquired Eidos Interactive, developers of the Tomb Raider franchise, along with the Hitman and Championship Manager series.

Financial sites were a-chatter with speculation as to whom the mystery company currently in talks with SCi could be--some were guessing Electronic Arts, while others speculated it could be Warner Bros. Entertainment. Warner Bros. acquired 10 percent of SCi's shares back in December, and at the same time gave Eidos the rights to make games based on Warner IP including The Flintstones, Looney Tunes, and The OC.

The company stated that a further announcement with more details will follow in due course.