Game's Iberian business taken over by OpCapita

Cherrilux Investments, an entity advised by OpCapita, has taken on the Iberian business, which was thought to be linked to Game’s UK assets that OpCapita acquired earlier this month.

Cherrilux is exploring a potential sale of Game Iberia, continuing the sale process began by Game earlier this year. Game attempted to sell its overseas arm before it collapsed into administration, as revealed by Retail-Week.com.

OpCapita stands to make a substantial return on any sale of the Iberian business, which was seen as an attractive asset to would-be buyers of the retailer.

It has a strong position in the market, with 290 stores in Spain and Portugal, employing 1,000 staff. It is profitable and has an annual turnover of around €300m.

OpCapita acquired 333 of Game’s UK stores earlier this month from PwC. The company said it remains “focused on the operational turnaround of the UK assets”.

OpCapita said: “Cherrilux has no plans to close stores at Game Iberia and will continue to run the business as a going concern while evaluating the possible sale of the business.”

Meanwhile Game’s new management in the UK, led by Martyn Gibbs, has been attempting to renegotiate its rents with landlords, hiring property agents Lunson Mitchenall and Harvey Spack Field.

Read a profile of Martyn Gibbs here.