Eidos dampens speculation over takeover price
British computer games maker Eidos saw its market value slump 17% today as it moved to cool speculation about the price of a potential takeover deal.
Eidos – best known for its Tomb Raider series – said it had opened up its books to potential suitors since first revealing it was in talks in August.
But it said: “On the basis of these recent discussions, the likelihood and extent of any premium achievable to the market price prevailing before the recent speculative movements is unclear.”
It said talks were continuing and that there could be no assurance they would lead to an offer.
Shares in the company have more than halved since the summer, but rose 7% on Friday amid speculation about the level of a possible deal.
This led the firm to announce to the London Stock Exchange that there was no particular reason for the surge.
It was followed by today’s statement, in which Eidos also said it was reliant on titles coming through in the second half to reverse first-half losses.
Paul Kavanagh, of brokers Killik & Co, said: “With the company indicating that potential buyers are not exactly banging on the door and the 2005 numbers reliant on some blockbuster games in the second half, the risks look skewed to the downside.”
Eidos suffered a setback last October when technical adjustments forced it to delay the release of the computer version of key title Championship Manager 5 in the run-up to Christmas.
The group has been trying to recover from a slump in the games market that forced it into the red in the last financial year.
Expectations for the wider sector’s festive performance are generally low. Last week retailer Woolworths said a shortage of new electronic games hardware contributed to lacklustre trading, while analysts expect retailer Game to deliver a downbeat trading statement tomorrow.
Shares in Eidos fell 15p to 71p today.
