Game Share Discussion Threads

[justthemoney] 26/3/2012 11:32

"
What went wrong?

Ben Parfitt of MCV UK suggests that it was GAME's insistence that it should be allowed to stock games at a discount that pushed the publishers away.
"

The Board didn't want to eat the humble pie...arrogance prevailed. Left shareholders penniless and thousands out of jobs. Unbelievable...

[quidzinn] 26/3/2012 11:32

GAME=FUCT

Q

[timberwolf] 26/3/2012 11:30

Administrators are saying this morning that they are hopeful of selling the company as a going concern.

[someuwin] 26/3/2012 11:24

RNS Number : 0590A
Game Group PLC
26 March 2012
GAME Group plc ('GAME') Appointment of Administrators Further to our announcements of 21 March, the Board of GAME has completed its discussions with lenders and third parties without resolution, and has therefore today appointed PWC LLP to act as administrators for the Group. This decision is taken after careful consideration and ceaseless interrogation of every possible alternative. The Board would like to thank the teams of GAME and Gamestation colleagues around the world for their exemplary dedication, passion and professionalism. - Ends -
This information is provided by RNS

[justthemoney] 26/3/2012 10:20

RBS the very people who cut off funding, want to acquire it. It says it all.
Fellows this can happen to any UK company no matter how big. All it takes is some debt and a temporary cash-flow problem, in addition to the collaborative management.

[loganair] 26/3/2012 09:43

High Street In Focus As Game Hangs In Balance

Crippling upfront costs will force more British high street names into administration, the world's leading business real estate advisor has warned, as markets anticipate the fate of Game Group.

On what it has called "the most telling rental day of the year for the UK high street", the CBRE said the ability to pay the first quarterly rent of the year reflects the successes and failures of the Christmas period, and can indicate the health of the nation's retail sector.

The warning from the property advisor follows reports of a rescue bid for Game Group, which needs to find £21m to pay its latest rent bill while struggling with debts of £180m.

[loganair] 26/3/2012 09:15

RBS GAME bid gathers press momentum as store closures loom

Two more national newspapers have reported that The Royal Bank of Scotland is leading a consortium of bidders interested in acquiring The GAME Group.

This morning The Telegraph reports that "it is understood that RBS, one of the company's six lenders, is leading a plan to buy a stake in Game after it is placed into administration today".

It adds that "people familiar with the matter have been left puzzled over why Game's lenders refused to accept a fully-funded bid from OpCapita last week, which would have prevented it from falling into administration".

The Daily Mail, meanwhile, reports that RBS "is leading a group of lenders to stricken Game Group who are working on plans to buy the slimmed-down retailer out of administration", adding that "the RBS consortium is expected to roll the existing debt of about £85m into the new company".

The idea of a state-owned retailer still seems far-fetched. Of course, the Government would prefer to see national retailers kept in business, but if RBS bankrolls GAME then what of the next retailer to hit trouble?

Whatever the outcome, it seems likely that many stores will be informed of their impending closure today as administrators PwC attempts to streamline the company ahead of its official entry into administration.

[masurenguy] 26/3/2012 00:55

Banks line up to save Game but staff still face the axe
Thousands of Game Group staff face dismissal this week as it plunges into administration, kick-starting the process of closing down its least attractive stores. The retailer will formally enter administration today after failing to find a white-knight buyer in the 5 days since announcing it had appointed an administrator. The process will enable the company to be restructured and sold in a slimmed-down form, which casts doubt over the future of 6,000 British jobs. Royal Bank of Scotland, the largest lender, has emerged as a potential buyer after it tabled a bid as part of a consortium to buy it out of administration. The bank, alongside Barclays, HSBC, Allied Irish Bank and other lenders, want to roll the company's £85 million of debt into a restructured and profitable version of Game. A source said that it was "too early" to say whether the consortium would bid. However, it believed that there was a future for an independent video games retailer on the high street and lenders were seeking a solution. Other bidders for the bones of Game include OpCapita, the investor that bought Comet, and the restructuring specialist Hillco. The American video games retailer Gamestop is also interested in buying up the company's British & Spanish divisions. Landlords will lose out on a £21m rent bill as a result of Game's slide into administration.

[ron d voo] 25/3/2012 23:27

Isn't mugging minor investors just par for the course?

[justthemoney] 25/3/2012 22:30

PWhite73...yep, I believe all preplanned to get hold of the business. £1.5b turnover, cash-flow generative business, first loss of £18m in years, small net debt, asset rich, bottom of the market and console cycle. Why would they have half a dozen suitors interested in acquiring the business if it was worthless?
Why would RBS and other lenders role over £80 debt into the new business? Nobody is interested in GMG debt, they want the business (brand, customers, foothold in the market...). Why shareholders cannot be part of the newly restructured business? Are we not the 'owners' of the business? My friend after this episode I'll be re-evaluating the wisdom of investing in stock market. If as it looks like Game group survives as a slimmer, profitable company and the current shareholders have no part in it, I would honestly consider pulling out all of my money from the stock market. Don't mind losing, lost many times in the past, but don't like being mugged like this.

[ron d voo] 25/3/2012 21:54

The stores might not open tomorrow. Or ever.

[brx7] 25/3/2012 21:53

ben on mvcuk seems to have a direct source.

[traidemark] 25/3/2012 13:03

well i know what im going to do tomorrow,

put on a hi-vis jacket, carry my clipboard, and take two mates into my local game store posing as the baliffs

cheap consoles and games from game at last.

[pwhite73] 25/3/2012 12:27

jtm

Do you seriously think EA pulling their games was all part of the management strategy. I wholly expect the incumbent management team to be removed once the administrators are finished. Resignations could come as early as next week.

[justthemoney] 25/3/2012 12:09

This is all preplanned. £1.5b turnover business doesn't collapse like this. Chaps, you cannot win against the crooks who run the company. Next time have a good look at the Board and their credentials before investing. In any case due to uncontrollable and unpredictable 3rd party risks present in the stock market, limit your exposure to any single stock to maximum of 10% of your stock market cash. The crooks and their backers will get away with this. Shareholders will get NOTHING, a new company will be formed with best of GMG assets and either be in the private hands for a few years or be listed on a stock exchange straight away.
The crooks are acting with the utmost urgency and before you know it would be done and dusted. BS like any of us won't even get a glimpse of how the assets were sold. That much of your shareholder rights in UK. In UK, this is all legal...in US they would be locked up.

[pwhite73] 25/3/2012 11:56

No one knows for sure not even the creditors because new things are being discovered all the time and people's positions are changing all the time. This will be the case for the next 6 months.

The only thing that is certain is that the shares will not be returning to the market in their present form. If pass experience is anything to go by then the shares will not be returning at all.

[loganair] 25/3/2012 11:44

From one source - GAME talks collapse, administration sell-off imminent.

"GAME is likely to go into administration on Monday and the process of selling its assets will begin but this won't be a pre-pack, where a company is bought immediately out of administration," a source is quoted as saying.

GAME's rent day is today, with a bill of £21m now hanging over the chain.

Effectively, this means that if a pre-pack administration sale is off the cards the only hope remaining for GAME is that a buyer such as GameStop may choose to buy some of its strongest assets, like key stores and facilities.

Then 15 minutes later - Game lenders 'planning buy-out bid'

IMO - no one really knows what is going on and what is going to happen this week.

[cumnor] 25/3/2012 11:26

ST journalism again-tripe. Get real some of you guys and start doing your own research. Equally valid-and free.

[pwhite73] 25/3/2012 11:04

Will people stop going on about BS.

I do not for one moment believe BS lost any money in real terms. It was all a game (excuse the pun). The game was to get you numpties to jump in whilst other institutions offloaded. BS were used as the catalyst to trigger the whole thing off. I can just imagine what was going through your tiny minds.

"Gosh if a hedge fund is buying Game shares at this price the company must definitely be undervalued cos hedge funds know more than me."

BS may well have lost over the purchase of game shares but they would have been handsomely rewarded in kind to let others out.

[colinhy] 25/3/2012 11:03

Talks to save GAME have reportedly collapsed, with reports suggesting that it will enter administration tomorrow when an immediate sell-off of assets will begin.

More to follow

[pwhite73] 25/3/2012 10:50

What comes next is this and you will get nothing back:-



TAXPAYERS could end up with a stake in Game Group under a surprise rescue plan led by Royal Bank of Scotland, writes Ben Marlow.

The state-owned lender is heading a consortium of the company's existing banks that has tabled a bid to buy the troubled computer games retailer out of administration.

Game's British operations, which include 610 stores, are set to be put into administration tomorrow, allowing it to undergo restructuring before being sold. Three bidders are interested in backing a slimmed-down Game Group.

The RBS-led consortium plans to roll the existing debt of about £85m into a new company with a smaller chain of stores. Bids are also expected from Gamestop, a big American rival. Another is expected from Opcapita, which recently acquired Comet, the electricals chain. It has tabled more than one bid already.

Game has become the latest casualty in Britain's retail industry, which has received a battering that has left 15% of the high street empty. Game's demise was triggered by a failure to close unprofitable stores and an inability to compete with online rivals, such as Amazon.

The chain almost collapsed in January after a third successive profit warning. Its banks, which include RBS, HSBC and Barclays, cut back the company's debt facility but agreed to provide £60m to keep it trading. However, nervous suppliers, including Electronic Arts and Nintendo, were not convinced that the chain would recover and refused to go on providing new games.

Last week, Game filed an intention to appoint administrators, which gave it some protection from creditors ahead of a quarterly rent payment and a monthly wages bill. The move also led to its immediate delisting from the stock exchange.

A restructuring plan led by PWC, the administrator, will begin with the quick closure of loss-making stores, leading to some job losses. Game has 6,000 staff in Britain. All are expected to receive any wages they are owed.

Game's remaining stores will be replenished with stock to form the backbone of a profitable "phoenix" company that can be sold.

GA Europe, a restructuring specialist, has been overseeing the restocking, which is crucial to Game's survival.

[dballantyne] 24/3/2012 22:04

It's a waiting game to see what comes next. We are all locked in here until further notice and I can't see major shareholders taking this lying down. We may get something back if Blueshore are successful with their endeavour.

[uncle arthur] 24/3/2012 20:27

ok thanksd .

[begorrah88] 24/3/2012 19:59

ludlow

no

[hvs] 24/3/2012 18:57

Its GAME OVER with BONUSES to boot.