THQ stocks surged up nearly 15 percent to close at $7.46 amidst rumors that the publisher would be facing a buyout. Time Warner and Viacom are rumored to be the frontrunners for a takeover, reports the Wall Street Journal.
"We do think that both Time Warner and Viacom are interested in the gaming space," said ThinkEquity analyst Atul Bagga.
Time Warner recently showed interest in Eidos before Square Enix took over the company, while later purchasing Midway. Viacom's MTV Games unit already owns Rock Band creator Harmonix. Over the past year, THQ has successfully managed its costs and launched the best selling UFC 2009: Undisputed, making them a more attractive acquisition target.
"While we won't be surprised by an offer for THQ, we believe that Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. could be a better take-out candidate," added Bagga. Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey recently told us that Take-Two remains an appealing acquisition target as well.
We'd wager that these sorts of buyouts by conglomerates will become more common as time goes on.
