French firm buys The Learning Company

By David Becker
Staff Writer, CNET News

French software maker Ubi Soft finalized a deal Wednesday to acquire the games division of former Mattel subsidiary The Learning Company. The Learning Company catalog includes more than 80 software titles, including the "Myst," "Prince of Persia" and "Chessmaster" series. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mattel bought The Learning Company for $3.6 billion in 1999 but essentially gave away the software company to buy out specialist Gores Technology Group a year later after losses in the division grew to almost $1 million a day.

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