Square Enix shoots down acquisition rumours after report boosts its stock

Square Enix has responded to a report about it potentially looking for a buyer.

This morning, a report from Bloomberg Japan revealed that a number of buyers have expressed interest in acquiring Japanese giant Square Enix.

The brief report cites unnamed sources in banking, who couldn't say whether buyers were only interested in Square Enix's games business, or the company as a whole. The news was fairly surprising, and it was enough to boost the company's stock price by 13.80% at the Tokyo Stock Exchange by noon.

In an unusual move, Square Enix actually responded to the report, denying Bloomberg's report outright. In a statement [PDF] (via Dr. Serkan Toto) published this afternoon, the Final Fantasy publisher said it is neither looking to sell, nor has it received offers from third parties.

"Bloomberg has reported today that there is interest from several buyers to acquire Square Enix. However, this report is not based on any announcement by Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd," the statement reads.

"We do not consider selling off the company or any part of its businesses, nor have we received any offer from any third party to acquire the company or any part of its businesses."

Square Enix is working on a number of anticipated, high-profile games. There's Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade in the near future (and its in-development sequel), Final Fantasy 16 a little later, and the recently named Forspoken. The company's Western publishing arm is also responsible for Marvel's Avengers and most recently, Outriders.