http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CUC+INTERNATIONAL+INC.+COMPLETES+ACQUISITIONS+OF+DAVIDSON+%26...-a018514475
STAMFORD, Conn., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- CUC International Inc., (NYSE: CU) announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisitions of Davidson & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: DAVD) and Sierra On- Line, Inc. (Nasdaq: SIER).
Davidson and Sierra On-Line are now wholly owned subsidiaries of CUC International Inc. Davidson, based in Torrance, California, is a leading publisher and distributor of educational and entertainment software. Sierra On-Line, based in Bellevue, Washington, is a leading entertainment software company.
Walter A. Forbes, chairman and chief executive officer of CUC International, commented, "With the completion of these acquisitions, we can move forward aggressively with our interactive strategy. Davidson and Sierra On-Line's development expertise will enable us to build one of the most compelling sites in the interactive world -- one that will offer families and individual consumers an exciting combination of entertainment, education, value-oriented consumer services, and the ability to transact."
Pursuant to the mergers, each outstanding share of Davidson Common Stock has been converted into .85 of a share of CUC International Common Stock, and each outstanding share of Sierra On-Line Common Stock has been converted into 1.225 shares of CUC International Common Stock. In each case, cash will be paid in lieu of fractional shares.
CUC International Inc. is a leading, membership-services company, currently providing over 48 million consumers, with access to a variety of services including home shopping, travel, insurance, auto, dining, home improvement, lifestyle clubs, checking account enhancements, and discount coupon programs.
Black Monday.
RIP Sierra.
Ah a sad day that was indeed.... RIP Sierra and thank you for all the memories. Many an afternoon after school let out was spent playing your games... as was many a weekend. Sierra captured the imaginations of many (including myself) with it's adventure games.
Point of Trivia: I picked up the Space Quest Collection a couple of days ago and have been playing through the Space Quest series starting at the very beginning. Just finished Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon.
Where'd you get it? I've never played all of Space Quest, I'd like to buy the collection and play it!
Quote from: oberonqa on July 24, 2010, 03:01:59 PM
have been playing through the Space Quest series starting at the very beginning.
Cool, I did the same thing a while ago. It was lots of fun, but finishing them made me sad that Space Quest 7 never happened...
Quote from: Haids1987 on July 24, 2010, 03:08:24 PM
Where'd you get it? I've never played all of Space Quest, I'd like to buy the collection and play it!
Amazon Marketplace - just shy of $10 with shipping. Also purchased the Police Quest Collection (1997) for $8 with shipping and the King's Quest Collection (2006) for $13 with shipping.... although I am still waiting on the other two. I still need to get the LSL Collection (knowing it's incomplete since it's not the Ultimate Pleasure Pack... but I refuse to spend upwards of $75-$100 for the UPP). I don't need the QFG Collection thank god... that thing sells for an exhuberant price.
Quote from: Haids1987 on July 24, 2010, 02:48:06 PM
Black Monday.
RIP Sierra.
Black Monday was in March '99. Sierra didn't change all too much until 1998 when David Grenewetzi came on board as CEO. However the CUC sale set the events in motion for Black Monday to happen because CUC turned out to be corrupt.
Sierra was still the largest computer game company in the world until 1999.
Sierra--The Sierra of the 1980s-mid 80s, died in 1999. But Sierra as the company headquarted in Bellevue didn't die until 2004 and didn't die as a brand name until 2009.
I was mixed up. :)
But still...RIP Sierra.
:(
Quote from: Haids1987 on July 24, 2010, 03:08:24 PM
Where'd you get it? I've never played all of Space Quest, I'd like to buy the collection and play it!
SQ 4 5 and 6 are available on GOG.com, as is KQ 4 5 and 6 and some of the Gabriel Knights.
Thank you. :)
Quotesome of the Gabriel Knights
Actually they have all three... not just "some" ;).
They also have at least one of the two Phantasmagorias as well, IIRC.
Roberta Williams once said that the game that best represents her game developing career was Phantasmagoria...Isn't that strange, that she chose that over KQ?
Always seemed weird to me.
Quote from: Baggins on July 26, 2010, 06:31:00 PMThey also have at least one of the two Phantasmagorias as well, IIRC.
They have both. I snagged them when they were released not too long ago.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960220&slug=2315084
February 20th, 1996
Game-Maker Sierra Agrees To Buyout
By Richard Buck, Greg Heberlein
Sierra On-Line of Bellevue, the largest maker of games for personal computers, said today it will be acquired by CUC International of Stamford, Conn., for about $700 million.
The final price of the deal, which is expected to be completed in late spring or early summer, will be determined by subsequent trading in CUC stock.
Sierra said that each of its shares will be exchanged for 1.225 shares of CUC, which traded at $30.375 late today, off $7.125 from Friday's close. At that price, Sierra stock would be worth $37.21. Sierra stock traded late today at $34.125, up $7, or 25.8 percent, from Friday's close.
Under a deal subject to ratification by Sierra shareholders, Sierra could back out of the acquisition if CUC's stock fell below $29.
CUC also announced today that it will acquire Davidson & Associates Inc. of Torrance, Calif., a leading maker of educational software.
Mike Brochu, Sierra president, said Sierra will remain in Bellevue, where it has about 600 employees.
"This should have little, if any, effect on the operations of Sierra," he said, although some administrative functions would be eliminated. He said those changes would affect relatively few people.
"What we are is a development company, and that will continue," he said.
Sierra's founders, Ken and Roberta Williams (he is chairman and chief executive, she is principal software developer) own 1.7 million Sierra shares, about 9 percent of the company. At today's CUC price, the deal would make their holdings worth $63.3 million.
"This acquisition represents an opportunity for Sierra to capitalize on what we already do extremely well: develop the highest-quality interactive entertainment, education and productivity titles in the industry," Ken Williams said. "CUC brings potentially 40 million new consumers into the interactive marketplace. We're looking forward to growing this business with CUC and reaching every one of those new customers."
CUC is the nation's leading provider of membership-based discount services through mail-order catalogs, online services and programs such as Shoppers Advantage and Auto Advantage. The company's products are available through television's Home Shopping Club as well as computer services such as Prodigy, CompuServe and America Online.
Today's acquisitions are an attempt by the company to become the nation's leader in electronic commerce. The two deals are independent, and neither is contingent on the other.
Brochu said the Sierra deal was proposed a few weeks ago by CUC. "It really got moving in the past week. We met over the weekend and put it together," he said.
Sierra now faces the same fate as the five small software companies it acquired last year: operating under new ownership and hoping to be left alone to develop its products.
"We were moving very rapidly to be a consolidator in this industry, and this provides an accelerator," Brochu said. "This was a very friendly approach. They bring a culture as well as an empathy for our culture that seemed to match very well.
"This allows us to get hooked up to a much larger organization, and when you put the product lines together you have some really good clout when you walk into a retailer."
Sierra, which moved to Bellevue in January 1994, is one of the world's most recognized names in the personal-computer-based entertainment-software industry, with best-selling titles including "Phantasmagoria," "King's Quest" and "Leisure Suit Larry."
Sierra began in 1979 in California when Ken Williams brought home one of Apple Computer's early models. His wife, Roberta, took an interest, and soon they had their first game.