Notice is hereby given that SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS INC. (the "Company") and SEGA CORPORTION, a subsidiary of the Company, at the meetings of their respective Boards of Directors held on March 8, 2005, resolved that SEGA EUROPE LTD., a company of Sega Sammy Group, should acquire all of the issued shares of The Creative Assembly Ltd. to make it its subsidiary, as described below:
Description 1. Reason for the acquisition of the shares: The markets of the consumer business, which Sega Sammy Group regards as one of its core businesses, have expanded rapidly in North America and Europe, while the Japanese market has seen sluggish growth. Hence, for our business development in the future, the North American and European markets have been growing in importance. Under these circumstances, Sega Sammy Group is promoting the concentration of its management resources on growth areas in its consumer business, relocation of its development resources for better productivity and unification of its development and marketing strategies. The Creative Assembly Ltd. has produced good results and has an established brand identity with the "Total War" PC series, whose titles have sold over a million throughout North America and Europe. By acquiring the shares of The Creative Assembly Ltd., Sega Sammy Group will be able to obtain competitive titles and a strong brand in the North American and European markets, in addition to expand product lines and increase sales volumes dramatically. Furthermore, we believe that we will be able to make good use of the development engines produced by The Creative Assembly Ltd. to expand future titles, as well as developing new ventures for next-generation platforms with the team.
http://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/pdf/release/20050309ir.pdf