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Warner offers $33 million for Midway

by on22 May 2009

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Not willing to take everything in the offer

As suspected, Warner Bros. has made what is called a “stalking horse” asset purchase bid for the bankrupt Midway Games as we have suspected would happen. The bid, however, does not include the purchase of everything; but it does include Mortal Kombat, which is thought to be the company’s most valuable asset, as well as the Midway studios in Chicago and Seattle.

The $33 million offered by Warner Bros. is over what Midway has suggested that they were looking for. The bid does not include the San Diego or Newcastle studios. The TNA Wrestling franchise, as well as the recently released Wheelman, are also not included in the Warner bid.

From what our sources have told us, despite the fact that Wheelman was not included in the bid, it is likely if the Warner bid is successful they will get Wheelman in the deal. As for the TNA Wrestling franchise, the reason for excluding it from the deal is unknown. Midway or the court could look for other buyers for the rights to the TNA Franchise if Warner does not want it as part of the deal.

Of course, the deal by Warner Bros. to purchase the Midway assets is subject to court approval and in the event that a deal is not completed, Midway stands to get a $1 million break up fee. A court supervised auction process will be used to identify other potential buyers, if there are any.

The move by Warner Bros. to acquire the Midway IP serves two purposes, the first of which is it gives the company access to some new established franchises on which to build, plus two new studios to expand the number of studios and titles that can be in development. Warner has said that they want to expand their development efforts and have done so with the purchase of new studios.

Last modified on 22 May 2009
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