The Game Group has been rescued by special situations private equity firm Opcapita, securing 3,200 jobs and keeping the lights on at the 333 stores kept open during the retailer's administration.
Opcapita has set up a vehicle called Baker Acquisitions to buy Game for a nominal £1, and will take on the computer game retailer's £85m of debts held by an RBS-led banking consortium.
The private equity firm said that it is seeking to re-hire a handful of staff at Game's head office that were recently given redundancy notices.
Opcapita, which last year took control of electrical retailer Comet for £2, does not plan to close anymore stores.
Henry Jackson, managing partner of OpCapita, said: “We strongly believe there is a place on the high street for a video gaming specialist and Game is the leading brand in a £2.8bn market in the UK.”
Games's shares were suspended from the London Stock Exchange last month "pending clarification of the company's financial position".
The suspension followed news that Electronic Arts, the games developer behind the FIFA and Sims series, decided to stop supplying Game over fears that it would not be able to meet payments.
A year ago Game's shares closed at 58p each, but value was wiped out as the chain faced competition from online outlets selling the same products with lower overheads.
The retailer made a loss of £18m in the year to 31 January.
This deal was covered in-depth as part of our 12-year deal archive available to subscribers. To read our analysis on Game, free to all for a limited time, click here.
Picture: Source
