Square Enix to buy Lara Croft & Eidos
Tomb Raider could start a brand new adventure.
Lara Croft is moving home – and not from one mansion to another, but from one publishing house to another. Square Enix is making plans to buy out Eidos, who has been behind the highs and lows of the Lara Croft gaming phenomenon.
Tomb Raider hasn’t been performing very well recently, and the most recent addition to the collection, Underworld, did so badly that Eidos have been left with very little options other than walking away with their tails between their legs.
However, all is not lost as Eidos has attaracted the attention of Square Enix who have thrown an offer of £83.4 million which Eidos are apparently excited about as they have taken steps to advise shareholders to consider the deal.
75 per cent of shareholders must agree…
The deal has already been accepted by the top ranks of both companies, although for the deal to go ahead 75 per cent of Eidos’ shareholders must be on board.
Square Enix have offered the deal which comes to 129 per cent of Eidos’ overall market value, a truly attractive offer, and Eidos bosses will be hoping that the shareholders understand the quality of the offer.
Tomb Raider is the selling point.
The president of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, has expressed his interests in his company’s move to buy the developers, and in particular mentioned the publisher’s flagship game – Tomb Raider.
“Eidos is a talented developer and publisher of interactive entertainment products with a broad portfolio of highly successful mass market franchises, led by Tomb Raider, one of the most successful videogame franchises of all time,” said Wada.
“Eidos maintains a strong reputation for high quality development and proven expertise in creating characters and storylines that appeal to consumers.
Eidos’s products are highly complementary to our business and will accelerate our aggressive expansion into western markets.”
“We believe that wide range of both companies’ quality products encompassing major genres will enable us to meet diversified customers’ expectations.”
Eidos shares more than double following the news…
Eidos’ share prices almost doubled today from 14p a share yesterday to 30.5p a share this morning. The developer have been said to have been searching for a buyer since their recent failures, and the main hopes have been around giants such as Square Enix, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft.
Although, for gamers, the future of Lara Croft and Hitman are slightly in the balance, as no one can be sure of which direction Square Enix will want to take the games.
The hopes for Eidos’ future from our point of view is that nothing actually will change and we can go on enjoying watching Lara Croft regain her former glory.
What do you reckon?
What do you think? Could the move be a good help for the Tomb Raiding experience or should Eidos hold out for something better?
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