Rutberg & Company -
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Published on: 3/1/2006
Last Visited: 8/25/2008
"For some sectors like gaming that appeal to a number of acquirers from old media and new media companies to the phone carriers, you can get from five to seven suitors involved in a bidding war," says Christopher Greer, head of M&A at Rutberg & Co., a San Francisco investment bank.Generally, though, "Companies shouldn't even try to go all the way to the end," he says.
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"In terms of entertainment revenues, the gaming industry far surpasses what Hollywood is bringing in," says Greer of Rutberg.The advertising market alone for the gaming industry is projected to post revenue of $562.5 million by 2009, up from just $34 million in 2004, according to Boston-based research firm Yankee Group.
EA is growing more ubiquitous through an agreement with mobile entertainment company Amp'd Mobile.EA will bring 15 mobile games from its most popular franchises to Amp'd Mobile's 3G handsets in the first half of this year.That agreement, suggests Greer, is just the start.Pointing to EA's $680 million acquisition of Jamdat Mobile (which is expected to be finalized in Q1), he notes that the two plan to publish more than 50 cell phone games in the next 12 months."This isn't like years ago, when folks sat back and said, How big is the Internet really going to be?'" says Greer.
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Though it remains unclear how News Corp. intends to leverage its multiple new platforms, its Fox Interactive Media division has "very ambitious plans," says Greer, including its recent agreement with Movielink, a joint venture of five Hollywood studios to offer movies over the Internet.