GameStation Sold to GAME
The European landscape for game retailers just became far competitive as European retailer GAME picked up formerly Blockbuster owned store GameStation for $150 million. According to the press release the all cash deal will be used by Blockbuster to pay off debts.
Blockbuster’s CEO John Antioco commented on the sale:
“Gamestation is a terrific brand that has performed well during our ownership. While we believe Gamestation is positioned for ongoing success, today’s announcement underscores our intent to focus on our Blockbuster-branded assets in North America in support of our goal to grow our overall share of the video rental market, both in-store and online.”
The chain currently has 200 locations. It is not known if any of the stores will be shut down when integrated into GAME but the number is likely to decline much. The deal is very reminiscent of the EB Games/GameStop purchase from 2005 as one business deal locked most of the market under one controlling brand. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in Europe and if the stores receive the backlash the US retailers did when they made a similar move.
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POSTED IN: Game Retailers
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