The loss-making company, which employs 10,000 staff in 1,270 stores in nine European countries and Australia, said on Monday it had appointed PwC as administrator after failing to find a buyer.
PwC immediately closed 277 of Game’s 609 stores in Britain and Ireland, making 2,104 of 5,521 staff redundant.
Mike Jervis, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said Game, which had sales of 1.63 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) in the year to Jan. 31, could still have a future.
“We believe that there is room for a specialist game retailer in the territories in which it operates, including its biggest one, the UK. As a result we are hopeful that a going concern sale of the business is achievable,” he said.
Jervis said PwC was “liaising with a number of parties who have expressed an interest in purchasing part or all of the business and assets of the group.”
Last Wednesday, Game, which faces intense competition from supermarket and online rivals, filed a notice to appoint an administrator, hours after saying its shares were worthless and suspended their trading.
On the same day, a source familiar with the situation said Game’s lenders, led by Royal Bank of Scotland, rejected an offer from private investment firm OpCapita to buy the retailer’s debt and pay suppliers even though it had the support of suppliers for the plan.
Analysts said OpCapita, which last year purchased British electricals chain Comet from Kesa, could yet bid for some of Game’s assets.
They said other possible bidders for a slimmed-down business included US rival Gamestop and a consortium led by RBS.
