Game Group In Talks With Potential Purchaser

Game Group Plc, the British video game retailer that is roughly equivalent in power to Electronics Boutique or GameStop's relative dominance of the North American specialty retail market, and additionally owner of major UK game retail website Game.net, has said that the company is in talks with potential candidates for a takeover bid. The retail chain, consisting of 540 locations, would not name its potential buyers, but analysts are reasonably certain that the bidder would be the holding company for one of the American game retail chains, with another possibility being a takeover bid from a British private equity firm. The news brought Game Group's share price up 16 percent, from 76.5 pence ($1.44) to 89 pence ($1.68), though the company cautioned that the talks "may or may not lead to an offer." Beyond that, Game Group offered no comment on the talks or a possible buyout. The upcoming cycle of new system debuts, beginning with the existing DS and forthcoming PSP launches in Europe, and continuing with expected new console hardware from Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, are thought to make Game Group an attractive purchase, although the company most recently had a half-year financial net loss of 4.96 million pounds ($9.37 million), not including the lucrative fiscal second-half.