Electronic Arts to buy westwood
Andrew Cryer
Electronic Arts to Buy Westwood Studios From Virgin Interactive
Entertainment
August 17, 1998--Electronic Arts(tm) (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's largest
interactive entertainment software company, today announced it has signed a
definitive agreement to purchase all outstanding stock of Westwood Studios,
Inc., and certain other studio assets of Virgin Interactive Entertainment,
Inc., a division of Spelling Entertainment Group, Inc. (NYSE:SP). The cash
transaction is valued at $122.5 million.
Subject to customary conditions, the acquisition of Westwood is expected to
close at the end of September. Founded in 1985 by Brett Sperry and Louis
Castle, the Las Vegas-based company is known for the best-selling franchise
Command & Conquer(R), which has been one of the most successful PC games
ever, and the critically acclaimed Lands of Lore(tm) and Dune(tm) series.
Electronic Arts' Chairman and CEO Larry Probst said, "We are pleased to
announce this partnership, which combines one of the industry's top game
development studios with EA's unmatched worldwide sales, marketing and
distribution capabilities. We believe the addition of the Westwood product
line and development teams will help us achieve our goal to be the No. 1
publisher of entertainment software for the PC."
EA's President of Worldwide Studios Don Mattrick said, "Westwood is one of
the most respected studios in the world, with an impressive portfolio of
best-selling franchises and brilliant creative talent. Their strong PC
product line, populated with chart-topping hits such as Command & Conquer
and Lands of Lore, will allow us to provide an even broader array of
high-quality products to our customers. We are excited that Brett and Louis
have chosen Electronic Arts to be the new home for Westwood Studios."
Brett Sperry, Westwood's president and CEO, said, "We are delighted to be
partnering with Electronic Arts, the most prominent and successful publisher
in our industry. We were courted by many companies, but in the end we knew
that EA would provide us with the best infrastructure and support that we
need to continue building great games."
Both Westwood founders, Sperry and Castle, have signed five-year employment
contracts.
Westwood Studios is a division of Virgin Interactive Entertainment, which is
a division of Spelling Entertainment Group Inc. Viacom Inc. (AMEX:VIA and
VIAB) owns approximately 80 percent of Spelling Entertainment. Westwood is a
prominent publisher of best-selling PC, Macintosh(R) and next-generation
console games. The company has released several popular titles including:
the Lands of Lore series, the Kyrandia(R) adventure trilogy, Monopoly(R) for
the Internet, Blade Runner, Games People Play, and the Command & Conquer
product line.
Electronic Arts (EA), headquartered in San Mateo, is the world's leading
interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts
posted revenues of $909 million for fiscal 1998. The company develops,
publishes and distributes software worldwide for personal computers and
advanced entertainment systems such as the PlayStation(R) and Nintendo(R)
64. EA has international subsidiaries and distribution in more than 75
countries worldwide.
Electronic Arts has major development operations in nine locations
throughout the world that are based in San Mateo and Walnut Creek, Calif.;
Baltimore, Maryland; Austin, Texas; Maitland, Florida; Seattle, Washington;
Vancouver, British Columbia; the United Kingdom and Japan. More information
about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the
Internet at http://www.ea.com.
Registered trademarks and trademarks are property of their respective
owners.
# # #
Registered trademarks and trademarks are property of their respective
owners.
For press inquiries only call:
Media Contact:
Chris Rubyor
Westwood Studios
702/228-4040 x339
ch...@westwood.com Aaron Cohen
Westwood Studios
702/228-4040 x362
aa...@westwood.com
Kit
> Electornic arts are to by Westwoos Studios
>
> Electronic Arts to Buy Westwood Studios From Virgin Interactive
> Entertainment
>
> August 17, 1998--Electronic Arts(tm) (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's largest
> interactive entertainment software company, today announced it has signed a
The fact that this has the date August 17th, means that it's old news, we
already know
and couldn't give a toss... Post a link please next time...
-- Kit
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The computer is mightier than the pen, the sword, and usually, the programmer.
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Jon New
Andrew Cryer wrote in message <6tubl9$9ug$1...@heliodor.xara.net>...
>Electornic arts are to by Westwoos Studios
>
>
>
>
> Electronic Arts to Buy Westwood Studios From Virgin Interactive
>Entertainment
>
>
>
>August 17, 1998--Electronic Arts(tm) (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's largest
>interactive entertainment software company, today announced it has signed a
AcK!
Kit <k...@earthling.net>'s computer and wrote:
>Andrew Cryer wrote:
>
>> Electornic arts are to by Westwoos Studios
>>
>> Electronic Arts to Buy Westwood Studios From Virgin Interactive
>> Entertainment
>>
>> August 17, 1998--Electronic Arts(tm) (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's largest
>> interactive entertainment software company, today announced it has signed a
>
>The fact that this has the date August 17th, means that it's old news, we
>already know
>and couldn't give a toss... Post a link please next time...
Now, now, be easy on the newbie. Just throw a generic flame-form at
him. :)
TTYL
... Murphy's Rule of Combat: Incoming fire ALWAYS has the right of way.
krup...@yahoospa.com
remove "spa" to email
Kit
> This is not news - it is history
Does that mean we can make Brian write an eassy about it?
>
>
>
>
> Andrew Cryer wrote in message <6tubl9$9ug$1...@heliodor.xara.net>...
> >Electornic arts are to by Westwoos Studios
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Electronic Arts to Buy Westwood Studios From Virgin Interactive
> >Entertainment
> >
> >
> >
> >August 17, 1998--Electronic Arts(tm) (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's largest
> >interactive entertainment software company, today announced it has signed a
-- Kit
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Naaah, real men don't read docs.
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The Mythical Alex
Jon New wrote in message <6tunb1$5oh$1...@nclient1-gui.server.virgin.net>...
>This is not news - it is history
>
Well, you should know what's NEWs, shouldn't you?