SCi Entertainment, the company which holds Lara Croft game developer Eidos, now has three takeover offers on the table – but suitors may have a tough time meeting management’s own valuation of the operation. Wimbledon-based SCi announced at the start of the month it had begun “extremely preliminary” takeover discussions with one company (see post) and there were some big trades in the company’s stock last week. Times Online: “The original move came from Ubisoft (FRA.UBI) of France, but that has been followed by interest from Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), the 10 percent shareholder, and an unnamed Chinese company.”
But Reuters says analysts reckon: “A takeover will hinge on management’s ‘500 pence per share-plus’ valuation … even if a press report that Time Warner and an unnamed Chinese firm have now approached it are true.” Panmure Gordon analyst Richard Newboult. “(CEO) Jane (Cavanah) would rather walk through hell in a bikini than sell the company for less than £5 a share.