EIDOS CONCLUDES
IO PURCHASE PHASE ONE
Copyright 2004 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ April 1st 2004 ]
Following
the Company's conditional exchange of contracts
announcement of 4 March 2004, and all conditions
precedent having been satisfied, the Board of
Eidos plc today announces that it has completed
part one of the acquisition of the entire issued
and to be issued share capital in IO Interactive,
representing a 90.1% interest.
The initial
consideration payable by the Company is GBP 20.6
million comprising GBP 18.6 million in cash and
1,511,509 new Eidos Ordinary shares, credited
as fully paid, ranking pari passu with the existing
issued Ordinary shares in the Company. Application
has been made to the Financial Services Authority
and the London Stock Exchange plc for the said
Ordinary shares to be admitted to the Official
List and to trade on the London Stock Exchange.
Admission is expected to be granted on 7 April
and, if granted, trading in these shares will
commence on 8 April 2004.
Part
two of the acquisition, which involves the Company's
compulsory acquisition of the remaining interest
in IO Interactive from the residual shareholders
(pursuant to Danish legislation), will commence
today. This part of the transaction is expected
to be completed by 30 June 2004 for a total cash
consideration of GBP 2.4 million.
Eidos
is the largest video games publisher and developer
of entertainment software in the UK. It has publishing
operations across Europe (France, Germany, Spain
and the UK) and in the US, Japan and Australia.
It also has significant development studio expertise,
both internal and external, in Europe and the
US.
IO Interactive
was established in September 1998 as a joint venture
between Nordisk Film & TV A/S and the game developer
Reto-Moto. Based in Copenhagen, IO Interactive
develops advanced 3D computer games for the global
market. Using proprietary technologies, IO products
are represented on all major platforms. The first
title Hitman: Codename 47, a third-person action
game, was released in November 2000. The Hitman
franchise is now well established as one of the
industry's biggest original intellectual properties.
Eidos
plc is a public limited company registered in
England (number 2501949). Its Ordinary shares
are listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker:
EID.L) and, in the form of American Depositary
Shares, on the NASDAQ National Market (symbol:
EIDSY). Further information on the Company can
be found at www.eidos.com.
|