An interest in the struggling specialty retailer Game has been expressed by none other than U.S.-based giant Walmart.
Despite its best efforts to save itself, Game is on the way out. The only thing that can save it from looming administration at this point is acquisition by a bigger, healthier company. There have been plenty of rumors about just such at thing, most of them looking at GameStop as the most likely savior, but another white knight has reportedly appeared on the horizon and it’s a big one: the super-heavyweight Walmart.
According to MCV, Walmart has reached out to Game to express interest in buying it out. It certainly has the muscle to do so, with $422 billion in worldwide revenues for 2011, and it also has a presence in the U.K. already as the owner of supermarket chain Asda. The news is particularly interesting because it puts pressure on GameStop to either step up or step back; the feeling so far has been that GameStop was waiting for Game to slip under so it could pick the company apart at a bargain-basement rate, but if Walmart is serious, GameStop will have to respond with a better offer while Game is still intact.
Whatever happens, the Game Group share price is experiencing a serious bounce. It’s climbed almost a full dollar today to £2.10 ($3.20), a far cry from the £60-plus ($94) it traded at just a year ago but still almost double where it started the day.
Game has thus far refused to comment on the situation.
