April the 1st saw a genuine good news story as the OpCapita, "the private investment firm specialising in operational turnarounds in the retail, consumer and leisure sectors" announced that it had "reached agreement on the sale of GAME's UK assets to Baker Acquisitions Limited an entity advised by OpCapita." Yes, GAME and GameStation were, in part at least, saved.
The official word is that, "Under the terms of the transaction, Baker Acquisitions will acquire the UK business out of administration and will provide it with the capital it needs to trade on a normalised basis. Baker will acquire all 333 UK stores that have remained open during the period of administration. The agreement means that the jobs of nearly 3200 GAME employees, who will transfer to Baker, have been safeguarded. Baker Acquisitions will also seek to re-employ a small number of staff who previously worked at GAME's head office but who received redundancy notices last week. There are no plans for any further store closures."
It's understood that £1 was paid for the company by OptiCapita, which also took on GAME Group's £85 million in debts.
Henry Jackson, Managing Partner of 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 suppliers."
According to MCV the deal means that, "The former joint COO of Dixons, David Hamid, will become GAME's new executive chairman".
Source for OptiCapita details is here.
The official word is that, "Under the terms of the transaction, Baker Acquisitions will acquire the UK business out of administration and will provide it with the capital it needs to trade on a normalised basis. Baker will acquire all 333 UK stores that have remained open during the period of administration. The agreement means that the jobs of nearly 3200 GAME employees, who will transfer to Baker, have been safeguarded. Baker Acquisitions will also seek to re-employ a small number of staff who previously worked at GAME's head office but who received redundancy notices last week. There are no plans for any further store closures."
It's understood that £1 was paid for the company by OptiCapita, which also took on GAME Group's £85 million in debts.
Henry Jackson, Managing Partner of 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 suppliers."
According to MCV the deal means that, "The former joint COO of Dixons, David Hamid, will become GAME's new executive chairman".
Source for OptiCapita details is here.
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