Infogrames Considers Purchasing More Atari Stock
Atari confirmed today that it has received a non-binding expression of intent from Infogrames yesterday to acquire all of the outstanding stock that Infogrames doesn't already hold.
Infogrames did some financial wrangling a few years ago to raise money by (in effect) transforming its North American subsidiary into a publicly-traded company named Atari. Infogrames kept majority ownership of Atari, but sold considerable Atari stock in the public markets. Atari has had financial problems, and that stock has faltered. As a result, it would make sense for Infogrames to reacquire all that publicly traded stock and return Atari to being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Infogrames.
Possibly in pursuit of that end, Infogrames is suggesting that it would be interested in purchasing outstanding Atari stock that it does not already own at $1.68 per share. Infogrames isn't firmly committing to purchase such stock (although it wants to move quickly) and isn't offering a premium over the current trading level of the stock. So while this is an interesting development, it equates to Infogrames saying that it may purchase a bunch (or all) of Atari's outstanding stock at market prices.
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