In some surprising news late last week, Square Enix (of Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest fame) has made a bid to acquire Tecmo (of Dead or Alive/Ninja Gaiden fame). The deal is said to be worth $102 million.

Square Enix president, Yoichi Wada has apparently been in talks with previous Tecmo president, Yoshimi Yasuda and the current president, Yasuharu Kakihara, since May this year. This news follows Yasuda’s resignation last week due to ‘personal reasons’. Tecmo is also currently undergoing some legal troubles, having to deal with Tomonobu Itagaki’s $1.4 million claim for unpaid bonuses as well as other employees seeking unpaid overtime to the sum of $77 000. Square Enix is fully aware of Tecmo’s “current circumstances”. In a press release, Square Enix laid out their plans for Tecmo:

“We believe that Tecmo will be able to make a great leap forward by joining the Square Enix Group, which will provide the group with further growth opportunities as well. We are planning to position Tecmo as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings maintaining Tecmo’s current organization and brand as in the cases of Square Enix and Taito.”

Tecmo has until September 4th to respond to the bid. If the offer is turned down, Square Enix will not pursue a buyout.