Infogrames Bids for Atari Shares

Infogrames is certainly moving fast these days. Just a few days ago, the company got a new president and a new CEO on the same day. And it was no ordinary president-CEO combination. The president is Phil Harrison, ex-Sony and credited with much of the company's success in the last few years. The CEO is David Gardner, a veteran coming over from industry leader Electronic Arts. They quickly presented their plans of turning Atari, now a subsidiary of Infogrames, into one of the powerhouses of gaming development and innovation.

One of the points made by Gardner in his first speech was the need for Infogrames to make sure that all Atari related intellectual properties were secure. A short history lesson is in order. After Atari had become wildly successful as an arcade and console pioneer in the late '80s and early '90s, the company was caught in a financial crunch and changed hands a couple of times. Now, although Infogrames, a French-based company, claims ownership of the Atari name and has Atari branches in Europe and Asia, there's also splinter firm Atari Inc., that activates in the United States and actually lends the Atari name from Infogrames. Yup, it is all very confusing even for the industry veterans. The main idea is that Gardner implied that he wished that all Atari related assets would have sat under the same roof, so that he would have a solid base in place to relaunch its fortunes.

Yesterday, Infogrames decided to make a bid for the shares that it does not control in Atari Inc. of the United States. An official letter was sent "regarding IESA's non-binding expression of intent to acquire the outstanding common stock of Atari, Inc. not owned by IESA and its affiliates". It means that Infogrames is offering 0,02 dollars above the 1,66 dollar market price for Atari Inc., hoping that it will attract shareholders. If the bid is successful, it will then take the company private and make every effort to turn it around.

What does this mean for gamers? It's all pretty unclear at the moment, but it may mean that the Alone in the Dark "revival" that Atari is planning might be better marketed, better supported and a real success. We'll have to wait and regularly check the news to see what happens.