Lara Croft firm admits sale talks

SCI was hit by the delay to Sony's latest games console

Struggling UK computer games publisher SCI Entertainment is in talks over a possible sale of the business.

The maker of such games as Lara Croft Tomb Raider said it had entered into "extremely preliminary" discussions with an unnamed suitor.

SCI's admission comes two months after it issued a profit warning, saying it had been hit by delays to the release of the Sony PlayStation 3 console.

Possible buyers are said to be rival Electronic Arts and Warner Brothers.

Entertainment group Warner already owns a 10% stake in SCI.

SCI added that there was no certainty that a formal bid will result from the talks, and that "no proposal has been received at this time".

The firm's largest shareholder is entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz, who had a holding of 15.5% as of August 1.

SCI is currently valued at about £300m.