Rhode Island values 38 Studios assets in 'tens of millions,' investors interested

Rhode Island officials have valued the state's acquired assets from the recently bankrupted 38 Studios in the "tens of millions" of dollars.

Rhode Island officials have valued the state's acquired assets from the recently bankrupted 38 Studios in the "tens of millions" of dollars, state counsel announced during a press conference today.

John Savage, a partner at the firm that's serving as counsel to the Rhode Island Economic Development Committee, was not more specific than that when asked about the assets' worth.

"We've had, in recent days, discussions with investors that were and, to my knowledge, are discussing substantial numbers, which indicate that there could be significant value to the assets," Savage said. "The discussions we've had have been in the tens of millions of dollars."

Savage added that the state might actually be able to divest itself of those assets despite the recently announced bankruptcy filing for 38 Studios.

"The answer is no, [the bankruptcy filing] was not a surprise," Savage said. "We had explored the possibility of a filing a while ago, and as the governor mentioned, it could have been an action that the secured creditor brought, or that they let the company do. The state and EDC allowed the company to decide whether to seek that protection or not while we continued to look for positive activities in developing talks with other investors."