EA Chases Illusions
Laptop Battery Electronic Arts today announced that they are seeking to acquire the Swedish game developer Digital Illusions CE (DICE). EA tendered an offer for all outstanding shares of the company's stock, with the offer set to close on December 27th of this year. EA currently owns 19% of DICE. DICE and EA have had a working relationship since 2002 and the company has developed titles such as Battlefield 1942, Battlefield: The Road to Rome and Battlefield Vietnam.
Digital Illusions CE's Board of Directors unanimously recommended to its shareholders that they accept the EA buyout offer. The buyout would certainly ease DICE's step into next-generation development, granting them the full support of monster publisher EA and access to a host of new tools and libraries.
"The game industry is entering a very challenging period of technology transition," said DICE's Chairman of the Board Torsten Larsson. "Making DICE a full partner with EA will strengthen DICE's ability to navigate the transition to the next generation of technology."
"At EA, we see this as an opportunity to accelerate the growth of a great studio team," said Rory Armes, General Manager of EA European Studios. "In the next five years, we hope to introduce new franchises and double the number of people working at this studio."
"This is a great opportunity for our company," said DICE's CEO Patrick Soderlund. "DICE will receive added resources, technology tools and expertise for meeting the challenges of the platform transition."
It looks like the buyout is a no-brainer at this point, but GCA will be keeping tabs on this story as it develops.
According to the indictment, Jones would steal various IBM and Penguin computer servers from Verisign's warehouse in Virginia and sell them to Johnson. Johnson would then sell the servers to several individuals, who would sometimes place them for sale on eBay. As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that Jones and Johnson caused Verisign to lose more than $120, 000 worth of computer equipment. In the indictment, Jones and Johnson are charged in three counts with causing the interstate transportation of stolen property, namely IBM 330 and 335 servers, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
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