Namco gives Sega a deadline to respond to merger proposal (Reuter: May 1, 2003) Tokyo – Today, Sega made this reply to Namco’s decision to set a May 9 deadline for a response to its merger proposal: “We are continuing deliberations in order that we can share our intentions with Namco.” According to information Reuter received from Sega’s PR department, Namco proposed a merger in mid-April. Sega received a document from Namco seeking confirmation of the company’s attitude towards Namco’s merger proposal. Sega responded only that it would continue its deliberations, failing to give a concrete date for its response. As a result, today Namco announced that it had sent Sega a document setting a May 9 deadline. Namco’s efforts may be too little, too late: Sega announced in February that it was entering merger discussions with Sammy, a leading manufacturer of pachinko and pachi-slot machines. Comments Hmm…what does Namco hope to gain by being pushy here? If Sega comes to them on May 10 and says “We’ve decided to accept your offer,” will Namco turn them down? “Sorry guys, we gave you a deadline of May 9.” Doesn’t seem likely, does it. I wonder what's going on behind the scenes. I’ll have a chance to meet some Japanese gaming industry folks down at E3 next week(!); I’ll sound them out about their thoughts on these negotiations.