It was announced today that Infogrames have agreed a deal to buy all the remaining Atari shares for a total of $11,000,000. This will result in a transfer of all remaining Atari assets to Infogrames, who already owned a majority share of the company (51.4%), and will mean that the iconic brand will not disappear from lives just yet.  They have also agreed to loan Atari $20million to keep them operational between now and the time the merger is finalised sometime in Q3 2008.

Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari is quoted as saying:-

“By joining Infogrames, we will have the opportunity to further transform Atari. As part of this newly integrated company, we will be better able to streamline operations and have a stronger platform for growth in North America.”

Now, we here at TTB love our retro gaming (especially Mr Geekboy with his retro Atari love), and it is great news that the dying brand has been thrown a lifeline and not faded into gaming history along with the likes of Spectrum, Magnavox and Commodore. Personally, the only down side I see from this merger is that they will be concentrating on North America (being from the UK myself), but as a struggling company I guess they have to focus on where the cash is until they are back on their feet again.

Here’s hoping for the Jaguar 2 in 2012!

(via)

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