Empire Interactive To Be Taken Over By Silverstar

Just a few months ago, Empire Interactive's very survival seemed to be hanging by a rusty wire called FlatOut 2. Was this game alone enough to bring the troubled publisher back in business? Hell if I know. But Empire is clearly doing a lot better nowdays. So much better, in fact, that investment company Silverstar Holdings has announced an offer to acquire all the shares of the British publisher, after already receiving "irrevocable commitments for 63% of Empire's shares".

What this means, basically, is that by the end of November 2006, Empire Interactive will likely be a part of Silverstar Holdings - right there with Strategy First (another troubled publisher that renewed after it was acquired by Silverstar). For those of you who get a kick out of financial reports, here's how the deal between Empire and Silverstar translates into numbers:

"The offer calls for either a cash payment of 7p (approx. $0.13) per share on closing or an earn-out alternative where the initial payment will be 4.9p (approx. $0.09) per share with a further 5.1p (approx. $0.094) per share payable subject to certain conditions on October 31, 2007. The earn-out alternative also includes further incentive payments subject to Empire achieving certain EBITDA targets for the year ended June 30, 2007.

Should all Empire shareholders other than management elect to receive the 7p cash payment, the maximum amount due on closing will be approximately $7.2 million. Should all shareholders elect the earn-out alternative, the maximum amount due on closing will be $6.15 million with an additional $6.4 million due in a second payment on October 31, 2007 with further incentive payments due on April 30, 2008 subject to Empire achieving certain EBITDA targets for the year ended June 30, 2007.

Empire’s two principal shareholders have given irrevocable undertakings to vote their 62% shareholdings in favor of the earn-out alternative. The offer will be open to shareholders for 21 days. The transaction is expected to close in late November."

So, in the end, it wasn't RedOctane, Take Two, or SCi Games who bought Empire. But the important thing is that they managed to find a buyer eventually, and that can only be good news for anyone hoping for a FlatOut 3 sequel.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)