Hopes of a counter bid for Eidos appeared to fade yesterday as shares in the developer of the Lara Croft computer games closed the week just ½p above the level of an existing £84.2 million bid by Square Enix, a Japanese rival.
Market rumours suggested that Time Warner, which already holds 20 per cent of the company’s shares, was considering a bid ahead of the release of a game based on its Batman franchise.
However, a banking source said the shares were originally acquired by Warner Bros, the company’s film business, as part of a distribution deal and were not considered to be a strategic investment by its parent TimeWarner.
Eidos shares, which more than doubled on Thursday after Square Enix, which develops the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest role playing titles, made its 32p a share bid, ticked up only ¾p to 32½p yesterday.
AEA Technology fell 1¼p to 17p after the energy consultant said a weaker than expected economy and the recent change of President in the US had caused longer than expected procurement delays.
Afren, the oil explorer, ticked up ¾p to 20p with strong volumes on hopes of upbeat results from drilling its Ebok well in Nigeria due in the next couple of weeks.
Iofina added 6½p to 55p after raising £5 million in a share placing that will allow it to pursue new opportunities in the iodine derivatives market.
Deutsche Land rose 0.12p to 5¾p after potential suitor Prostar Germany, which is headed by its co-founder and former director, Jonathan Elkington, tried to rally shareholders behind its pursuit and allow it access to Deutsche’s books. The AIM-listed group has so far rejected its proposals.
Source:the times
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