GAME Group Saved!
In what must surely look like a bad April Fool’s joke but isn’t, GAME Group has been saved from administration, just a week after it was placed there – very good news for most of its staff, no doubt.
Investment firm Opcapita will announce sometime today that they are buying a large part of the business. This will save 333 stores and 3100 jobs. “Half a dozen banks, led by Royal Bank of Scotland, who are owed 85m, have approved the takeover” said BBC business editor Robert Peston.
GAME went into administration last Monday, causing the immediate closure of 277 stores and the loss of 2104 jobs. However, 333 stores were kept open, while the search for a buyer continued. It appears that GAME’s troubles stem from an inability to compete with online retailers, since there prices tended to be much higher than one would think reasonable for the overheads of a bricks and mortar store.
Richard Wilson, chief executive of games industry trade association Tiga, welcomed the deal but said Game would have to develop its online business to survive.
He said: “It’s important for the company to change to consumer spending habits, and it’s really vital that Game also appeals to video game developers. Many video game developers in the UK are of course selling online as well.
“Game is going to have to change its strategy but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, and the fact that Game has got this new backing behind it, this new management, I think that’s all for the good.”
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