Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Rare team was spun out of Microsoft. They were the video game company that Microsoft bought from Nintendo. They were responsible for Golden Eye, Conquer, and Perfect Dark. I'm not sure if this would be considered a successful spin off though as Microsoft bought them when they were, IMHO, at their peak.
Are you sure? I can't find any confirmation, for example, they are listed as MS subsidiary on wikipedia.
Confirmation of what? you don't specify:)