GAME buyer ‘would prefer to wait for a formal administration’

Pundits say that GAME will have to go into administration or become insolvent before acquirers step in.

The troubled UK retailer has already had a tough day, with shares hitting an all-time low as speculation about its future continuing to mount.

Now analysts reckon the worst will have to happen before any potential buyer enters the frame.

It’s long been expected that GameStop for one is interested in parts of the GAME empire.

"We suspect that any potential suitor would prefer to wait for a formal administration process," Mark Photiades of Singer Capital Markets told the BBC.

"Through a pre-pack, the suitor would have much greater flexibility around store liabilities."

Similarly, FT.com quotes a retail analyst at Charles Stanley Securities offering the same view.

Peter Smedley told the financial paper: Whilst there is a powerful industry rationale for GAME’s survival in the UK – the key video games suppliers see GAME as a vital retail partner – some kind of insolvency process is looking increasingly likely to ensure that GAME is rescued, albeit in a radically different form.”

Smedley echoed the view that GameStop is the most likely to step in at that point.

He added: Whilst other interested parties may well emerge during the mooted sales process, Gamestop is the best positioned financially and strategically to pick up the assets it wants".