SCi Games

Eidos takeover

In April 2005, SCi entered into a £103 million bid for Eidos plc, the parent company of Eidos Interactive.^[10] Eidos was acquired by SCi in May 2005,^[11][12] and fully merged with SCi by June 2006 with the Eidos brand used for all future games.^[13] Following Eidos' acquisition, all executives of the acquired company resigned, and were replaced by SCi's management.^[14] In October 2005, SCi employed around 600 people.^[15] By February 2006, it was the largest video game company in Britain, when Robert Tchenguiz's Thorson Investments owned a 14.6% stake after acquiring a holding from Robert Bonnier.^[16] In December 2006, Warner Bros. started investing in SCi in exchange for granting game licences to Warner Bros. films to SCi.^[17] Warner Bros. owned 10.3% in September 2007.^[18]

In July 2006, Cavanagh stepped down as chairwoman of SCi, while remaining chief executive officer (CEO).^[19] She was replaced by Tim Ryan, formerly non-executive director, as non-executive chairman of the board.^[19] In the 2007 New Year Honours, Cavanagh was named Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services in the video game industry, particularly SCi.^[3] Cavanagh was ousted as CEO in January 2008, and left the company alongside her husband, Bill Ennis, and studio chief Rob Murphy; they are likely to get more than £1.5 million in compensation according to London Evening Standard.^[2][20] Following their departure, SCi's shares doubled in value.^[21][22] At the time, SCi had 900 employees.^[22] On 2 December 2008, SCi filed for changing its name to Eidos,^[23] which was finalised the following day.^[24][25]

During 2008, the company raised £60 million at 35p a share. Warner Bros Entertainment increased its stake to 30 per cent of shares.^[26] Eidos shareholders approved the acquisition by Square Enix on 27 March 2009 at 32p a share, a valuation of just over £84 million.^[27] At that point, Warner's share had decreased to 20 per cent, but 35 per cent of total shareholding were on the backing part of the offer.^[28] Eidos was absorbed by Square Enix together in November of that year.^[29]