Lara battle alert as Japan bids for Eidos

All-action heroine Lara Croft is going Japanese after the last remaining major British video games company agreed to be taken over by Tokyo-based Square Enix for £84 million.

But this could just be the first thrilling encounter in as big a battle as the combat-clad beauty has fought.

The Japanese have the backing of the Eidos directors, but the Warner Bros film studios and entertainment colossus has gradually built up a 20% stake in the games maker.

Warner can choose to take a sizeable loss on its share stake or launch its own rival takeover bid.

Square Enix is bidding 32p a share, more than three times the 9p at which they were languishing before the bid approach was revealed last month. The shares today gained 17 p to 31p.

But Warner paid 35p a share for most of its stake. Eidos' headquarters are in Wimbledon, and it has a studio in London