Rumor: Warner Bros. looking to acquire SCi/Eidos
Speculation is mounting that Warner Bros. is getting ready to buy UK publisher SCi (soon to be Eidos PLC). According to "sources" speaking to GI.biz, Warner Bros. has been looking for another tasty company to gobble up since taking over Traveller's Tales last year. The departure of two non-executive SCi board members is seen as another sign that Warner Bros. is getting ready to pounce on the financially distraught publisher.
Warner Bros. had previously given the troubled publisher £60 million to keep its head above water. SCi does hold the rights to some pretty lucrative franchises like Tomb Raider, Hitman and Deus Ex. We contacted Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter for his take on the situation. His response can be found after the break.
Pachter writes:
"The board members don't have to quit in advance of a bid, so it's not necessarily true that they quit to "clear the way for a bid" (quoting GI.biz). They could have remained members till a bid came in, then quit. I think it's fun to speculate, and at the current share price, it's chump change for WB to make an acquisition (they paid $150 million for TT games). But I don't think that you can conclude that something is imminent just because of board member movement.
I agree that as majority shareholders, it makes no sense for WB and Tchenguiz to have no representation on the board. So it's probably true that something is up, but it's surprising that they are signaling a move by having their board members resign."
