Redstone's Midway stake passes 80 per cent

Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone has taken a further vital step towards a complete takeover of publisher Midway Games, increasing his personal holding in the company to over 80 per cent in a share acquisition yesterday.

Redstone has already appointed a number of his own selections to the Midway board, including his daughter Sherri Redstone and new chairman Kenneth Cron, who replaced former chairman Neil Nicastro at the company's AGM in early June.

It's also known that Redstone has taken advice on how to proceed once his shareholding passed the 80 per cent mark - which is the point at which an individual can make the bulk of decisions regarding a company's future without calling a shareholder vote.

Many commentators expect that his next move will be to take Midway private, delisting the company from the stock exchange and taking 100 per cent ownership of the firm - and it's been widely suggested that he may then sell Midway to the media empire which he chairs, Viacom.

Viacom has recently expressed a strong interest in becoming involved in the videogame industry, and even considered a buy-out of market leader Electronic Arts earlier this year - but baulked at the huge $20 billion price tag of the publisher.