Sega States Intention To Acquire Publishing Competitors

The only acquisition target Bellfield ruled out was EA, leaving speculators with plenty of options to ponder. According to Reuters, Sega has the cash to pull off a some major deals -- about $532 million. Bellfield said that the most "interesting opportunities" for acquisitions were publicly-traded companies that had strong teams and rights to game franchises, which means Sega could be looking at Acclaim, Midway, Interplay, 3DO, THQ, Take Two, and Eidos. As a result of Sega's interest in acquisitions and its stated goal of increasing its presence in Europe, shares of Infogrames climbed 23 percent on the French market today, as investors bet that the French publisher would be a Sega target.