THQ and the acquisition thesis


Well, it's been an exciting month for the video-game industry. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) released The Beatles: Rock Band to the market. Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) cut the price of the Wii in an effort to better compete with Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). And rumors of consolidation in the industry are getting heavy. The buzz on some corners of Wall Street is that perhaps a major media conglomerate might want to take over THQ (NASDAQ: THQI).

According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), either Viacom or Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) might be interested in the publisher. There are plenty of reasons to believe this would be a logical move for either of those two. And there are plenty of reasons to suggest that buying THQ wouldn't make sense. I mean, take Viacom: wouldn't it rather concentrate on the Rock Band franchise? As for Time Warner, does it truly desire the hassle of integrating THQ? Right now, Time Warner's stock is in an upswing, and I don't think shareholders would want to ruin such momentum with the purchase of a software company that has been experiencing growth problems.

But, let's look at the other side of the argument. Video games should be a great business over the long term. THQ has some interesting properties in its portfolio (e.g., Saints Row, Destroy All Humans!). And best of all, as of Friday's close, it had a market cap of less than $500 million. THQ is a lot cheaper than it was three years ago.

I have no idea when THQ will be acquired. I do, however, feel quite certain that it will be bought out at some point (of course, keep in mind, that's just my personal speculative opinion). The way I see it, THQ is just too cheap to be ignored. Even though the company definitely needs a lot of work, I know that some bigger entity out there wouldn't mind having access to the publisher's brand.

As the economy improves, and as CEOs begin to feel increasingly comfortable, more deals are sure to materialize. Still, you've got to be very, very cautious when buying on this kind of speculation. It's not for every investor. If you do believe that THQ might be a takeover target, and you make the decision to roll the dice by acquiring shares of the company, then only use capital dedicated to risk. And I mean big risk. Fundamentally, THQ isn't a solid buy. Acquisition potential, on the other hand, is compelling in this case.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.

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Last updated: February 10, 2012: 05:22 AM

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