Lara Croft firm gets bid approach

SCI bought Lara Croft-owner Eidos in May

Shares in computer games maker SCI Entertainment have jumped by 25% after it said it had received approaches from "various parties" over a possible bid.

SCI declined to comment on which companies had made the approaches.

However, the Daily Mail said SCI was a target for three firms - US computer games firms Midway and Electronic Arts, and private equity firm Apax Partners.

Earlier this year, SCI bought Lara Croft-owner Eidos for £74m. SCI now brands its games under the Eidos name.

SCI shares closed 25.39%, or 121.5 pence, higher at 600p.

SCI GROUP TITLES Conflict Carmageddon Tomb Raider Championship Manager Hitman Commandos See SCI's share price

"The board notes today's press comment and confirms that it has received approaches from various parties which may or may not lead to an offer for the company," SCI said in a statement.

Computer games giant Electronic Arts owns titles such as FIFA Soccer and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Midway, which the Daily Mail said was the front-runner for SCI, is best known for its Mortal Kombat series of games.

Turnaround

SCI was founded in 1988, and its titles include Carmageddon and the Conflict series.

It fought off competition from venture capital firm Elevation, which has rock star Bono on its board of directors, to buy Eidos earlier this year.

Eidos achieved fame through its Tomb Raider series of games, which featured the Lara Croft character.

Last month, SCI said Eidos had achieved an operating profit of £1.6m in the seven weeks since it had bought the firm and added that it was "confident" of returning Eidos to profitability in the 12 months to 30 June 2006.