UK Retailer GAME Finally has a New Owner

It’s hardly been a secret that UK retailer GAME has been struggling significantly in recent years. Call it what you will, uncompetitive pricing, poor levels of stock or the convenience of online downloading, the retailer has been in a significant downward spiral in the last 10 years with very little signs of recovery. A factor that has essentially seen the company up for sale for the last 2-3 years.

Well, earlier this year it emerged that Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct group was one of the more likely contenders to take over the company having already acquired a significant portion of shares. When enough shares were purchased to trigger a mandatory buy-out option, GAME themselves recommended shareholders to sell and it seems they have listened.

In a report via Kotaku, following the acquisition of another 17% of shares, Sports Direct now owns over 50% of GAME and is officially their new owner.

GAME Takeover Completed

For those familiar with the business practices of Mike Ashley, he does have a strong reputation for purchasing struggling companies. Specifically, witht the intention of turning their fortunes around. This is, however, often predicated on some very drastic action to try and clear out the deadwood.

Deadwood will, of course, represent stores either losing money or barely making a profit. By proxy, we can probably in the next few months expect to see a number of closures. This will, of course, very likely include (sadly) the loss of jobs.

Good News/Bad News

So, the obvious good news is that for the immediate future, GAME will still be a going concern. The clear worries, however, are on what will happen next. As above, some store closures are pretty much guaranteed. It has even been suggested that Mike Ashley may look to incorporate the stores into his pre-existing Sports Direct locations. A concept that may see store closures on a huge scale.

Given that Mike Ashley doesn’t exactly have the best reputation for working conditions, however, GAME workers who are not shown the door may want to start looking for it.

What do you think? What do you think the future holds for GAME? – Let us know in the comments!