According to the WSJ (Registration required), IGN Entertainment Inc. has come on the block and could fetch between $600 million and $800 million. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH) is handling the possible sale, although IGN is thought to be exploring an initial public offering (IPO) as an alternative.
Large public Internet companies such as Yahoo ! and cable companies such as Comcast, Viacom and NewsCorp, could be interested in IGN as a way to reach young entertainment buyers while getting access to content in order to lock in premium revenue streams.
The impact of IGN GameSpy services could be big for any potential buyer. Not that it's without competition, especially as game developers have found GameSpy's licensing costs increasingly prohibitive, but GameSpy is still very popular with young consumers with lots of expendable income.
If that recent survey from IDC and IGN are any indication, such an acquisition could prove important for a major media player looking to make inroads with consumers as online music download services continue to gain momentum. Comcast seems well-positioned for that, since they've got a deal in place with Real for Rhapsody already...
Posted by: Peter Cohen | March 22, 2005 at 11:30 AM