Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct lines up Game takeover
Mike Ashley is set to lodge a bid for Game Digital, as the retail tycoon’s spending spree shows little sign of slowing down.
Sports Direct, which already owned a 20 per cent holding in Game, has launched a takeover offer for the gaming firm after upping its stake in the group to roughly 38 per cent.
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A final offer of 30p per share would be tabled, Sports Direct said in a statement today, valuing the firm at £52m and marking a 27 per cent premium of Game’s closing price last night.
The move is the latest attempt by Ashley, who owns Sports Direct, to swoop up a high street retailer, having already acquired the likes of House of Fraser and Evans Cycles last year.
Sports Direct said: “The retail and gaming sectors are fast moving and currently subject to challenging conditions.
“Sports Direct does not believe that, as a standalone business, Game is able to weather the pressures that it is facing.
“Sports Direct believes that the offer, in providing Game with the wider benefit of Sports Direct’s operating and other experience and increased support, will secure Game’s future and allow it to navigate these pressures.”
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Ashley’s latest offer comes several months after the billionaire mogul saw his near 30 per cent stake in department store chain Debenhams wiped out, after it fell into the hands of its lenders in a pre-pack administration deal.