Infogrames, the French video games company behind Atari, last night revealed that it was behind a rejected share-based bid for SCi Entertainment of about £60 million.

The would-be predator indicated that it could go hostile, presenting investors with a choice between SCi’s planned fundraising and a bid at a “significant premium” to the 55p the shares were trading at last week.

Infogrames said that it had presented “a detailed indicative offer” which was rejected last week. It described its proposal as financially disciplined and said that it was “in a position to move expeditiously with its proposal” to buy SCi, the British creator of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider franchise.

Like SCi, Infogrames is emerging from financial trouble. At the end of last year it raised €150 million in a rescue, which left Blue Bay Asset Management as its largest investor. Its market value was €147.2 million (£115.6 million) last night, making it larger than SCi, which was worth £42 million.

SCi Entertainment rejected the bid, arguing that it was the wrong time to sell the company because it would have been sold off too cheaply at a time when it was financially weak. It has opted to raise £50 million from investors, led by Time Warner and Robert Tchenguiz, its two largest shareholders .

However, investors have to vote on the plan next month, and Infogrames insiders were asking yesterday whether it would be appropriate for the two major shareholders to vote, given they would be the beneficiaries of the restructuring. Both will increase their stakes as a result of the rescue, to a little over 20 per cent each.

Infogrames lost €34.7 million in the six months to the end of September, the most recent period for which profit and loss figures are available. However, it has cash on the balance sheet after the fundraising, which will be used to meet a small cash element to its offer, which is otherwise mostly in its shares.

Its near-term hopes are dependent on the upcoming release of the next version of Alone in the Dark in June. It is billed as a survival horror video game.

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