[b] By: Scott Schopman[/b]
Midway is continuing their expansion with the announcement that they have acquired Australia based, Adelaide, South Australia to be exact, game development studio Ratbag. The deal that took place was a primarily stock transaction for 418,570 Midway shares. In addition to the transaction that was given by Midway for acquiring Ratbag, rights to acquire a total of 38,050 shares of Midway common stock were given to key Ratbag employees as retention incentives.
Ratbag, which will be renamed Midway Studios, has currently been working on yet to be announced projects for the current and next generation systems
Midway high ups had something to say about the Ratbag merge starting with Midway’s President and Chief Executive Officer David F. Zucker stating, “This transaction is consistent with our strategy of adding depth to our internal product development organization and strengthening our ability to deliver high-quality, compelling and commercially successful content for current and future systems. Ratbag brings to Midway a rare combination of development expertise in driving and on-foot combat that they are incorporating into our games now in development.”
Midway’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Studios Matt Booty added, “We are excited to add this proven studio with solid management and a strong development team to Midway, and establish a firm foothold in Australia, a great location for top entertainment industry talent. We plan to leverage their talent and technology across our internal development studios, which will support our goal of maintaining our leadership in high quality development.”
The Midway common stock employee incentives that are mentioned above will vest in stages over a period of three years, assuming the selected employees stay with the company. The Ratbag employees who received the rights were: Tony Albrecht, Karl Burdack, Cam Dunn, Kim Forrest, Franta Fulin, Adam Mackay-Smith, Robin Maddock, Andrew Medlin, Sadhana Pereira, and David Todd.
We will keep you informed of any other announcements that come up.
