Atari SA
Line
- Jim Wilson, CEO
- Frank E. Dangeard, Chairman
Atari SA is a French manufacturer of computer games. The Company was formed by the French development studio founded under the name Infogrames 1983. Through numerous canvassing the company rose at times into a leading global manufacturer and distributor of computer games. With the acquisition of Hasbro Interactive, the company also came into possession of the naming rights of the former console manufacturer Atari. After the company had by 2003 been renamed several subsidiaries in Atari and all of its games under this label, published, in 2009, finally, the group itself from Infogrames Entertainment SA was renamed to Atari SA. The company is listed on the CAC Small.
History
1983: Foundation as Infogrames
Infogrames (pronounced ɛfɔɡʁam (French), ˌ ɪnfoʊɡræmz (English) ) was established on 1 June 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet in Lyon. The name was a portmanteau word consisting of the French words " informatique " ( computer science ) and " program" (program). The company logo of the company showed the picture of an armadillo, combined with the company logo. Among the most famous songs of the company counted among other things, published in 1992, Survival horror game Alone in the Dark.
1996: Expansion through acquisitions
From 1996 to 2002, the company with the worldwide adoption of numerous competitors began gradually to increase and thus increased in fiscal year 2001/2002 times the world's third largest manufacturer of gaming software by Electronic Arts and Vivendi Universal Games on. The aim was to extend only gradually Infogrames presence in more countries, then to increase the output of new games later. These enlargements, however, were bought with a growing debt of the Group. Thus, the total debt of the Group was 600 million U.S. dollars in 2000. The acquired companies, these were to in detail:
Some of these acquisitions such as Accolade and Gremlin designated Bonnell in a 2004 interview afterwards as an error.
1999: acquisition of GT Interactive
- Variants of the Armadillo logo of Infogrames to Atari renamed
1984-1996
1996-2000
2000-2003
Among the most important acquisitions including the purchase of a 70 - % share of the American publisher GT Interactive in December 1999 for $ 135 million dollars and the assumption of corporate debt in the amount of 75 million U.S. dollars.
The company GT Interactive Founded in 1993, it was announced, inter alia, through the Adventure Discworld Noir and through the distribution of games such as Unreal, Doom, Duke Nukem, Blood, Prisoner of Ice, and the first Oddworld games. At the time of acquisition of the publisher was financially badly bruised and had been looking for with the help of investment bank Bear Stearns for a merger partner or buyer. Infogrames, at that time the largest European computer game publisher, came through the acquisition in the possession of the American distribution network and the software catalog of the company, among others, the Games Series Driver and Deer Hunter. There were seven to GT Interactive belonging development studios, including Humongous Entertainment, Legend Entertainment and Reflections Interactive. GT Interactive was renamed in May 2000 Infogrames, Inc..
2001: acquisition of Hasbro Interactive
In January 2001, the acquisition of Hasbro Interactive, the software division of Hasbro Group for 100 million, paid for by 4.5 million Infogrames shares with a value of 95 million dollars and five million dollars in cash followed. Infogrames took over by the developer and publisher MicroProse together with its subsidiaries, including the rights to the series Civilization player, Falcon, Grand Prix and Roller Coaster Tycoon. Furthermore, the acquisition included the naming rights of the former console and games manufacturer Atari and its products, including the title Centipede, Missile Command and Pong. In addition Infogrames received for 15 years plus a performance-based option for a further five years, the exclusive rights for the development and sale of computer games based on Hasbro games brands, including the brands Dungeons & Dragons, Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk, Cluedo, Mr. Potato Head and My Little Pony. Hasbro Interactive was renamed Inc. after the acquisition in Infogrames Interactive. The MicroProse Developer Studio in the UK was closed on 20 September 2002.
The most recent major acquisitions of this period consisted in the complete takeover of the French developer Eden Studios for 4.1 million U.S. dollars, on which the company had previously owned a share of 19.8 %, and the U.S. developer Shiny Entertainment for 47 million U.S. dollars. Infogrames thereby received the rights to the titles V-Rally 3 and Test Drive Unlimited ( Eden Games ), as well as Enter the Matrix (Shiny Entertainment), the first computer game based on the movie license to The Matrix.
2003: conversion to Atari Group
Already published with the release of MX Rider in 2001 Infogrames important major productions under the Atari label. In May 2003, all the Group's operating units have been renamed to Atari, the group holding itself still retained its name as Infogrames SA. Infogrames, Inc. (formerly Warner ) since renamed as Atari, Inc. Infogrames Interactive (formerly Hasbro Interactive) has been renamed to Atari Interactive, Infogrames UK in Atari UK. Similarly Infogrames did with his other distribution branches: Infogrames Australia Pty Ltd was to Atari Australia Pty Ltd.. The rights to the name Atari had bought the company in January 2001 together with the portion Hasbro Interactive, Hasbro.
Since the takeover by GT Interactive Infogrames to ' focus shifted increasingly to the U.S. market. At the time of the name change, the publisher generates about 65 % of its sales in the United States. The U.S. subsidiary, however, had to contend with frequent changes in management and was heavily in deficit. In July 2006, Reflections was sold with the Driver license to the French publisher Ubisoft. In October 2006, the development studio Shiny was sold to Foundation 9.
2007-2011: Frequent changes in management and retreat from Europe
On 5 April 2007 it was announced that the last remaining Infogrames - founder and longtime corporate director Bruno Bonnell had left the company. New CEO and Chairman was the Frenchman Patrick Leleu. Bonnells farewell received a favorable response in the stock market, analysts saw in this step, the possibility of a re-orientation of the company. On the day of the announcement, the value of Infogrames share therefore increased by 24 %. Already since September 2006 ran against long been ailing U.S. subsidiary Atari, Inc., which at that time was 51.4 % owned by Infogrames, a method for exclusion from trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, as the value permanently below duty brand had fallen from a dollar. On 5 September 2007 the stock was finally taken off the market. Infogrames therefore took over for about eleven million U.S. dollars, the remaining shares of its U.S. subsidiary and responded with a radical restructuring of the Board of Directors of Atari, Inc., and the posting of a transition - CEOs. In March 2008, was finally appointed Jim Wilson as President and CEO of Atari, Inc., Total Group CEO Leleu, however, was already in January 2008, again resigned from his post. He was followed by former EA Manager David Gardner as CEO and Phil Harrison, the former head of Sony Worldwide Studios, as President. Under Gardner and Harrison Atari sold in September 2008, 34 % of its subsidiary Atari Europe to the Japanese publisher Namco Bandai. In December 2008, Infogrames acquired the specialized MMO developer Cryptic Studios for $ 28 million dollars and another 48 million in performance-based bonuses, mainly to its U.S. subsidiary Atari, Inc. regroup.
Finally, in May 2009, there were several significant changes. On 14 May it was announced that Infogrames will its European distribution branch Atari Europe completely repel at Namco Bandai and retire so from the European sector. The U.S. subsidiary Atari, Inc. remained unaffected. Since the Atari name also had greater awareness and the different company names were sometimes perceived by the public as confusing, also of Infogrames Entertainment SA renamed it Atari SA. Furthermore, retired Phil Harrison from his post as president and thus from the management, the company remained, however, as Director of the Group respectively. In the same train was as Chief Operating Officer of the former COO of THQ and CEO of Take 2, Jeff Lapin, obliged.
On 11 December 2009 David Gardner resigned from the post of CEO of Atari SA, and was succeeded by Lapin, who led the company from Los Angeles. He was supported by a so-called Executive Committee, consisting of Jim Wilson (CEO Atari, Inc. ), John Needham (CEO, Cryptic Studios), Fabrice Hamaide (CFO Atari SA) and Alexandra Fichelson (General Secretary ). In April 2010, Nolan Bushnell, founder of the original 1973 Atari console manufacturer, consultant and director of the Company. Lapin left the company in December 2010, his successor at the head of the whole group was the former president and CEO of the U.S. subsidiary Atari, Inc., Jim Wilson. In the same fiscal year, the office of the company from Lyon moved to Paris.
In May 2011, Atari launched its developer studio Cryptic Studios for 35 million euros or 49.8 million U.S. dollars in cash to the Chinese companies from Perfect World, after the company's two years earlier, only losses of 12.6 million euros and had registered 5.3 million euros.
2013: Bankruptcy
On January 21, 2013, the company filed for bankruptcy. The day before, the U.S. subsidiary Atari, Inc. had filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11, with the aim of separating from the parent company.
As the search for a suitable buyer for Atari, Inc. was unsuccessful, it was the U.S. subsidiary known, all remaining rights, including the Atari brand to want to offer in an auction in July 2013 for sale. Atari SA, which looked closely linked his fate in a statement to its shareholders on May 15, with the output of the bankruptcy of its U.S. subsidiary, began with the sale of trademark rights, such as the rights to his action-adventure game Outcast, the strategy series Desperados and the role-playing Silver. On June 25, 2013 it was announced that Nordic Games has acquired the trademark rights to Silver and Desperados. The rights to Outcast were sold back to the creators of the game. Ultimately was for the portfolio of Atari, Inc., however, filed a sufficiently high offer. Instead, the subsidiary company developed an insolvency plan, which was adopted in December 2013, the Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
Games
Infogrames / Atari publications include the computer game classic North & South, Outcast, grunts, the Desperados series, the Independence War and the alone -in-the -Dark series.