SCi/Eidos Admits Takeover Talks

Officials from British publisher SCi Entertainment, owners of Eidos Interactive, have confirmed that they have entered into preliminary discussions regarding a potential acquisition of the company, although the interested party has not been named. According to UK newspaper The Guardian shares in SCi rose by more than 13 percent as a result, with a statement released to the stock market indicating that: “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 acquired fellow UK publisher Eidos Interactive in May 2005 and almost immediately became the subject of takeover rumors themselves. In January 2006 the company confirmed multiple approaches had been made, with Midway and Vivendi Games rumored to be amongst the companies involved. By February of last year, SCi formally announced that all takeover talks had ended, although by October there was again rumors of interest from Time Warner. This ultimately led to a wide ranging licensing agreement and a 10.3 percent share investment from the U.S. media giant.