Report: SCi In Acquisition Talks With Empire

Two separate British newspapers, the Financial Times and The Guardian, have suggested that UK game publisher SCi (Tomb Raider, Reservoir Dogs) may be in advanced discussions to acquire fellow British publisher Empire Interactive. Board members from Empire had previously indicated that the company was speaking now only to a single party, previously speculated to be Guitar Hero publisher RedOctane or long-time U.S. distributor Vivendi. SCi acquired UK rival Eidos last year, under which name it now publishes, and has previously confirmed plans for further acquisitions out of a £17.4 million ($31.5 million) war chest derived through a share placement, but it is unclear whether the continuing integrating of SCi and Eidos would make it difficult to integrate another purchase so swiftly. Although never a major player even in the British market, Empire has established links with Japanese publishers such as Taito and Sega, and also operates the Xplosiv budget re-release label. The publisher is currently valued at around £5 million ($9 million), according to the UK papers, although it is unknown what kind of offer SCi may currently be discussing.