Empire Interactive confirms takeover talks

UK-based publisher Empire Interactive has confirmed that it is in talks with a number of unnamed suitors which could lead to an acquisition offer being made for the stock market listed firm.

The company issued a statement to the City this morning saying that it "is currently in discussion with a number of parties which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company."

Empire's share price jumped by over 25 per cent on the news, and at time of publication the firm was trading at 7 pence per share, up 1.5 pence over its opening price - giving the publisher a market cap of GBP 4.73 million.

Late last month, Empire revealed that one of its most successful franchises, the Ford Racing series, is to be converted into an arcade game for Sega, which will be released into the arcade market in March.

The company is also responsible for the Xplosiv range of PC budget titles, which republishes a wide variety of software from key publishers including Capcom and Microsoft.