Game’s £400m IPO and rebrand will 'breathe new life' into the firm, says Gumtree’s head of retail
Following Game’s collapse into administration two years ago, the company is set to float on the stock exchange.
With the £400m floatation predicted to take place before the end of June, according to new documents, the deal will see the group rebrand as Game Digital.
The news has been welcomed by some brands. Anthony Blackford, head of retail division, Gumtree, told The Drum the news will breathe "new life" into Game since it went into administration.
"This demonstrates the resilience of the brand and the buoyancy of the UK retail market. It’s telling that it is being renamed as Game Digital – clearly the release of PS4 and Xbox One has had a positive impact for the brand," he said.
The company used to have over 600 stores in the UK, but 277 were closed in the wake of its administration, with the rest sold to private equity firm OpCapita and hedge fund Elliott Advisors.
Discussing what the recreation of Game could mean for the future, Blackford stated: “If Sony and Microsoft continue to innovate with their devices like Apple and Google are, we could see some amazing gaming concepts explode into the market in the none too distant future – such as virtual reality.
“It will be interesting to see how much of an emphasis will go into online/mobile sales compared to in store. Having so many stores has been the downfall for certain high-street retailers as shopping trends continue to change. If they get the balance right, there is no reason why it will not be a good investment.”
Game had a 33 per cent share of the new video game content, hardware and accessories market, by revenue, in the UK, as of the end of 2013.