Business News HMV Timeline Retail Top Stories

Game interested in acquiring some HMV stores

By | Published on Friday 18 January 2013

Game

When Game collapsed last March it looked like an opportunity for HMV, with yet another competitor set to disappear from the high street, but now HMV’s collapse looks like it will be an opportunity for the streamlined Game business that emerged from last spring’s administration.

According to the Financial Times, management at the streamlined Game company – created when investment firm OpCapita bought about half of the Game store network last April – is now talking to HMV’s administrators Deloitte about acquiring up to 45 of the flagging entertainment retailer’s outlets. All the stores in which Game has expressed an interest are in towns where the gaming retailer does not currently have a base.

Managers are considering expanding the Game network into former HMV stores, despite it being only a year since the gaming firm itself was on the brink, after the retail company achieved better than expected revenues and profits in 2012.

Insiders say that in the region of 50 parties have expressed an interest in acquiring some of the HMV business, which went into administration on Tuesday. Retail restructuring group Hilco, which already owns HMV Canada, remains the most likely of the bidders to take the HMV name, and to continue running an albeit cut-back network of HMV stores. Though a number of other private equity sets up are also thought to be in talks with Deloitte.



READ MORE ABOUT: |