December 1st, 2008 by Garnett Lee

A UK Daily Mail online report puts Eidos parent company SCi Entertainment actively out on the sale block again. Though no specifics are given, it says that the company has received preliminary inquiries from Electronic Arts and Ubisoft. Both companies have been the subject of rumors surrounding the potential sale of SCi since the ouster of its former CEO and founder Jane Cavanagh in January of this year. Her replacement, Phil Rogers, came over from Electronic Arts where he had been Vice-President of Corporate Development in February of 2007.

But EA isn't the only company with a potential inside track. Time Warner currently sits as the largest of the major shareholders in SCi with a 16.13 percent chunk of the company and has been mentioned in previous rumors. Adding support to both Warner's potential interest and the rumored sale in general, last week SCi issued a statement that it had released Warner Bros. from previously agreed to limits on the acquisition of any more shares prior to January of 2009. With that date so close at hand it seems likely that this step was taken to allow them to be part of any bidding that may take place for SCi during December.

SCi finds itself looking for a new owner after a particularly brutal year. The company, traded on the London Stock Exchange, has seen its price per share crash some 92 percent, and with that a reduction in its valuation from more ?600 million a year ago to only ?50 million today. Further compounding the situation, losses have quadrupled over the same period. At this point acquisition seems almost a foregone conclusion. What remains to be answered is whether it will be by EA, Ubisoft, or perhaps Warner Bros.