SCi ends takeover talks

SCi has announced that it has ended discussions with a number of companies over the prospective sale of the business.

The news that it had entered into talks of a possible takeover emerged last September, but in a statement the company has revealed that no formal offers were received "within the timeframe requested".

Additionally the company Board has stated its belief that no "sale of the company for its full value is likely to be achieved at the current time" and so all discussions on the subject "have been terminated today."

The statement went on to refer to new "strategic and commercial opportunities" which have emerged as a result of the discussions, which the company will now continue to "explore and progress."

In addition, following a review of its 2008 offering, Tomb Raider: Underworld has now been pushed back to a Q4 release along with three other titles that weren't specified - a move which may have implications on available working capital.

The statement ended with a buoyant review of trading results over the Christmas period, citing good results for Kane & Lynch, whose sales exceeded those of Hitman: Blood Money in a comparable time frame - although the installed base for the Xbox 360 has grown significantly during that time.

Pony Friends for the Nintendo DS and Tomb Raider: Anniversary for the Wii were also mentioned in a positive light.

Since that initial announcement made by SCi in September, a number of big deals have been concluded - Warner Bros' acquisition of Traveller's Tales, Electronic Arts' purchase of Bioware/Pandemic and the Activision Blizzard deal chief among them.

The identity of the companies that had expressed an interest in purchasing SCi were not revealed.