SCi Entertainment, the games publisher that owns the Lara Croft Tomb Raider franchise, is close to finalising a £50m ($100m) placing and rights issue that could see NBC Universal become a major shareholder in the company.

The UK’s largest games publisher is in talks with Time Warner about potentially increasing its 10 per cent stake in the company or bringing in NBC Universal, which is owned jointly by GE and Vivendi of France, as a significant minority shareholder.