Viacom-Midway Buy-Out Rumours Resurface As CEO Backtracks

The rumour that Viacom is seeking to buy-out publishers Midway has surfaced once again this morning, making a take-over seem ever more possible. We had reported back in June that this acquisition was a distinct possibility, although at that stage, Viacom’s CEO Sumner Redstone had said that would not be happening. Today, however, Redstone is reported as saying “Midway could be considered as a potential licensee of Viacom intellectual property, or as an acquisition candidate”.

Although industry analysts are largely sceptical, with Michael Pachter (Senior Vice President of Research at Wedbush Morgan Securities) stating “We believe that Midway is unlikely to be acquired by Viacom, but we think that the company should be considered a candidate given Mr. Redstone’s large holdings.” Redstone does hold a share of just under 75% of Midway, and had appointed his own daughter as Vice-Chairman of the Midway board back in June.

Given that Viacom has expressed an interest in increasing its involvement in the games industry, and Redstone has a considerable stake in Midway, the acquisition does seem more likely than Pachter has made out. However, until any official announcements are made, we can only speculate. One thing’s for sure, if Midway is given control of Viacom’s wider licenses, THQ and Codemasters will surely be irked by losing their respective Nickleodeon and MTV licenses.