Trade and national press reports this morning indicate that Britsoft giant SCi is poised to takeover Britsoft minnow Empire Interactive, almost a year after they bought up Britsoft perch Eidos.
Stretched fish analogies aside, it would certainly seem to make commercial sense for SCi to buy up the long-standing smaller company, which has built a specialist niche for itself in recent years in the casual, value software market.
SCi made a clear statement of intent earlier this week, announcing a £17.4m share placing to fund acquisitions that will give it a foothold in the market for casual games. Empire’s Xplosiv brand is a leading casual games brand, with a number of lucrative properties, including Carol Vorderman's Sudoku and retro gaming classic Taito Legends. Other Empire titles include Starsky & Hutch, Big Mutha Truckers, Mashed, Flat Out (check the last batch of Flat Out 2 screens to the right of this story) and Starship Troopers. So, putting two and two together, it’s not hard to see where today’s speculation came from.
It’s been no secret now for some weeks that Ian Higgins and the guys at Empire have been talking to potential buyers. The company confirmed yesterday that they have been in talks with what they feel to be a suitor, but has yet to tell SPOnG who it is. Despite our rather annoying tendency to ask them on a daily basis.
SPOnG tried to get a comment from Ian Higgins earlier today, but we were told by an Empire rep that “Ian doesn’t want to comment, it’s just rumour and speculation”.
Empire is currently valued at around £5 million, but the rumours suggest that SCi could offer quite a bit more than this, to gain a good foothold into the casual market.
Empire has also announced this morning that it has just signed up England cricketer Kevin Pietersen to front its latest cricket games title, International Cricket Captain 2006.
A spokesperson from SCi told the Guardian earlier today that it was "keen to grow by acquisition and by organic means".
SPOnG will bring you further news as to whether or not this rumour is true as soon as we have it. Place your bets.
Stretched fish analogies aside, it would certainly seem to make commercial sense for SCi to buy up the long-standing smaller company, which has built a specialist niche for itself in recent years in the casual, value software market.
SCi made a clear statement of intent earlier this week, announcing a £17.4m share placing to fund acquisitions that will give it a foothold in the market for casual games. Empire’s Xplosiv brand is a leading casual games brand, with a number of lucrative properties, including Carol Vorderman's Sudoku and retro gaming classic Taito Legends. Other Empire titles include Starsky & Hutch, Big Mutha Truckers, Mashed, Flat Out (check the last batch of Flat Out 2 screens to the right of this story) and Starship Troopers. So, putting two and two together, it’s not hard to see where today’s speculation came from.
It’s been no secret now for some weeks that Ian Higgins and the guys at Empire have been talking to potential buyers. The company confirmed yesterday that they have been in talks with what they feel to be a suitor, but has yet to tell SPOnG who it is. Despite our rather annoying tendency to ask them on a daily basis.
SPOnG tried to get a comment from Ian Higgins earlier today, but we were told by an Empire rep that “Ian doesn’t want to comment, it’s just rumour and speculation”.
Empire is currently valued at around £5 million, but the rumours suggest that SCi could offer quite a bit more than this, to gain a good foothold into the casual market.
Empire has also announced this morning that it has just signed up England cricketer Kevin Pietersen to front its latest cricket games title, International Cricket Captain 2006.
A spokesperson from SCi told the Guardian earlier today that it was "keen to grow by acquisition and by organic means".
SPOnG will bring you further news as to whether or not this rumour is true as soon as we have it. Place your bets.
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