Early this year, it was revealed that struggling Eidos Interactive was on the auction block, and everyone from EA to Square-Enix was rumored to be interested in an acquisition. Then the news came that one party had entered into takeover talks with the Tomb Raider publisher, although the identity of that party remained a mystery. Well, no longer.
According to GameSpot , Square-Enix is the company that has made the bid. Their offer of £84.3 million ($120 million) "is being unanimously recommended to Eidos shareholders by the firm's board," as they clearly are in favor of the deal that translates to $0.46/share. If you're wondering, this offer was nearly triple that of Eidos' value when the proposition was made, and currently more than double that of the current value. Since this announcement today, though, shares have climbed steeply to $0.45/share, but that probably won't alter the deal. Said Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada: "Eidos' products are highly complementary to our business and will accelerate our aggressive expansion into Western markets." The Japanese publisher has made it very plain that they wish to cater to a larger worldwide audience, and their acquisition of Eidos would certainly serve to further that western-oriented plan of attack. So who's ready for the next Lara Croft adventure with Square-Enix's name on the box? Man, who would've expected that ten years ago?
Now that the board has turned this over to the shareholders, we'll wait to learn of the final result, but it appears to be a win-win for both companies in question. Time will tell.
