NEWS - Monday, August 10, 2009
THQ Acquires Midway San Diego
Chicago video-game publisher Midway Games has agreed to sell "substantially all" of the assets related to its San Diego studio to THQ Inc., a California-based game maker, for $200,000.
The San Diego studio was excluded from Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.’s $49 million purchase of most of Midway’s other assets, including studios in Seattle and Chicago. The deal with THQ does not include Midway’s TNA Wrestling game, which was developed in San Diego.
In a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Midway said THQ made job offers to at least 40 employees in the San Diego office and may interview and extend offers to more workers. About 100 employees work at the studio. At the beginning of July, Midway had filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act in California to provide 60-day notice of its plans to close the San Diego location. However, the company continued to entertain bids for the facility.
The deal with THQ is still subject to approval by the judge overseeing Midway’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. THQ and Warner Bros. also have to sign an agreement to share certain intellectual property. The regulatory filing said the two companies have already agreed on terms.
In the same filing, Midway said it has also reached agreements to sell all the shares of its wholly owned subsidiaries in Germany, France and England. The new owners of the stock are current Europe-based Midway executives who will leave their positions when the deals close, Midway said.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com
