None
Venerable gaming outfit, Atari, has had its European operations sold off to Namco Bandai. According to an MCV report, Atari Europe’s sales and marketing staff will be “safely transferred to newly-formed business Distribution Partners – which will handle all Namco Bandai product in Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.” The article goes on to outline that Namco Bandai purchased a 34% stake in Atari Europe in March of ’08, and it is “expected to pick up the remaining 66 per cent from parent Infogrames next month.”
John Galloway, former Take Two, THQ, and EA executive, will lead the UK and Scandinavian headquarters of Distribution Partners, and that “the new deal has satisfied scrutiny from anti-competition bodies.” “We believe that DP will become a wholly-owned Namco Bandai games company soon, but this process requires time and we will comment further when we have an anticipated closing date,” said Atari’s marketing boss David Miller. Atari’s US business will remain intact, and parent company Infogrames will “continue to operate from its office in Lyon, France.” Until 2014, Distribution Partners will “exclusively handle Atari-produced boxed titles outside of the US.” |
