TOKYO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Japanese videogame maker Square Enix Co (9684.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it aims to buy more than half of game developer Tecmo (9650.T: Quote, Profile, Research) shares at 920 yen each, 30 percent higher than Tecmo’s closing share price the previous day.
Square Enix said it would not pursue the bid if Tecmo management either does not respond to the proposal by Sept. 4 or rejects it, as the company is seeking a friendly deal.
Tecmo makes good sense as an acquisition for Square-Enix at a glance. It’s actually fairly similar to Taito, when you think about it, and I can imagine things being handled in pretty much the same way.
Tecmo doesn’t have a lot of hot properties left, though. It has Rygar, Ninja Gaiden and Monster Rancher, but Fatal Frame it sold to Nintendo (I think) and its arcade retro stuff hasn’t been popular in ages. I have a hard time imagining Monster Rancher going anywhere great and Rygar and Ninja Gaiden seem to be a long time between installments, so…
The more I think about it, the more I don’t know WHAT to think.
It’s an interesting time to acquire Tecmo, though, isn’t it? Aren’t they being sued by former employees for failing to deliver promised bonuses and didn’t the company’s president just step down over the issue?
Yes, yes and yes. It seems like times of turmoil result in the biggest gains for some companies, though. Regal Cinemas filed for bankruptcy not terribly long back–okay, so it was years–while I was working for them. They closed down poorly performing theaters and then from there they grew and now they’re doing as well as ever! I see other businesses do the same thing. If the Square-Enix offer is accepted, this could be good news for Tecmo. The nostalgia side of things won’t be the same, though. I kind of hate seeing the really old developers who have given me a lot of great games swallowed up by mergers. Still, it beats seeing them die away, doesn’t it?
I’ve heard nothing about FF being sold to anyone, just that part IV was Wii-exclusive and published by Nintendo. And they still have DOA (Itagaki claims the franchise is dead now, but I think that’s Itagaki being Itagaki – I doubt he has any ownership of the series).
