It"s been a bad last few weeks for the GAME Group and its series of gaming retail stores but today there is finally some good news. A few days after the GAME Group went into administration, it"s been announced that its remaining assets have been acquired by Baker Acquisitions Limited, a group who has advised by the private investment group OpCapita.
GAME Group, who owned the GAME and Gamestation retail stores in the UK and Ireland, went into administration on March 21, after several months of poor financial results. On March 27, the administrator, PwC, announced that 277 GAME and Gamestation retail stores would shut down immediately in the UK and Ireland with over 2,000 people losing their jobs as a result.
Today"s announcement means that the remaining 333 retail stores will stay open and that nearly 3,200 employees will keep their jobs. In addition, a few GAME Group home office employees who were laid off last week will also be brought back. Specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Henry Jackson, the Managing Partner at OpCapita. said:
We are pleased to have reached agreement with the Administrator. We strongly believe there is a place on the high street for a video gaming specialist and GAME is the leading brand in a £2.8 billion market in the UK. We have assembled a strong team of experienced industry operators to implement the programme of operational change that is needed. There is a huge amount to do but we look forward to the challenge of restoring GAME’s fortunes in partnership with its employees and supplier.