Sega to acquire Atlus parent company for $140M (update)

Sega Sammy Holdings will acquire Index Corporation, the parent company of Japanese publisher and developer Atlus, for ¥14 billion ($140 million) in November, according to the company.

According to Sega's business transfer agreement notice, Sega expects to "achieve steady flows of revenue" through the acquisition of Index's video game IPs. Further revenue growth is expected by exploiting the IPs across online PC gaming and smartphone content. The company also aims to "maximize the value of acquired IPs" by releasing them across pachislot, pachinko and amusement machine segments.

Sept. 18 marked the conclusion of business transfer agreement, according to the notice, and Nov. 1 is the tentative due date for the transfer of Index, pending approval from the court under by Civil Rehabilitation Act.. Sega Dream Corporation was established on Sept. 5 as a subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings to oversee the transfer of Index operations. Sega Dream Corporation's name is slated to change in the future.

According to reports last month, there were roughly 20 companies vying to buy Atlus from Index Corporation and bidding had reportedly reached ¥20 billion ($203 million). Citing sources familiar to the situation, Bloomberg Japan reported at the time that bids for Atlus exceeded ¥5 billion more than Index Corporation's expected ¥15 billion.

Index, which filed for bankruptcy on June 27 and had its stock delisted on July 28, reportedly owes debts of ¥24.5 billion ($224 million). An Atlus spokesperson told Polygon in July that the company's "day to day is unaffected and our games are still shipping."

Polygon has reached out to Atlus and Sega for comment.

Update: Updated with information from the Sega Sammy Holdings notice.