| EA
will pay up to $620 million in cash to the
stockholders of VG Holdings, issue $155 million
in equity to some VG employees, assume VG's
outstanding stock options and lend VG $35
million through the deal's closing in January.
To
acquire them, EA will sign an agreement
with Elevation Partners which acquired both
the game makers in 2005 and created VG Holdings
to own them.
"These
are two of the most respected studios in
the industry, and I'm glad to be working
with them again," EA chief executive
John Riccitiello.
"They
will make a strong contribution to our strategic
growth initiatives on quality, online gaming
and new intellectual properties. We also
expect this to drive long-term value for
our shareholders."
Between
them, BioWare and Pandemic have 10 franchises
under development, including six wholly
owned games. BioWare is currently readying
Mass Effect, to be published by Microsoft
in November.
Pandemic
has the upcoming Mercenaries 2: World in
Flames and Saboteur lined up for launch.
Their development teams will join the EA
Games president Frank Gibeau's team in creating
more exciting games.
|
