Eidos considering acquisition offer

Posted at: 3:47pm 16th January 2009 by Ben Hardwidge

Square Enix and Warner Bros rumoured to be potential buyers, as Eidos announces that it’s considering an acquisition offer

Eidos plc, the mammoth software publisher that brought us Lara Croft, as well as the Hitman, Deus Ex and Thief series of games, has announced that it’s considering selling itself to a mystery buyer.

In a statement released yesterday, the company announced yesterday that ‘it has received a preliminary approach which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the Company.’ The company who made the approach to Eidos has yet to be confirmed, but Eidos was keen to stress  that ‘discussions are at a very early stage and that there can be no assurance that an offer will be forthcoming.’

Starting life as a UK company in 1990, Eidos began work creating software for the old Acorn Archimedes computers that were popular in schools at the time. The company then bought up a number of games studios, including US Gold (which included the Derby-based games team Core Design), and Domark, and published the first Tomb Raider game in 1996. The company now fully owns ten game studios.

Although the company that made the ‘preliminary approach’ hasn’t been named, both Warner Bros and Square Enix have been hotly tipped as potential buyers. Both companies were reportedly preparing to ‘mount rival acquisition bids’ for Eidos in December last year.

Who do you think is interested in buying Eidos? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.