GAME had to pay OpCapita monitoring fees and interest

Highstreet video game retailer GAME was in deep trouble last year. It was circling the drain and it looked like the long-standing chain would come to an end. However, OpCapita, the owners of twice defunct Comet, swooped in and saved the day. However, in the latest accounting reports from the firm, it turns out it's paying interest and monitoring fees to OpCapita's parent company, further contributing to the firm's latest losses.

There's a bit of a stink surrounding this, because it's seen as something OpCapita and its parent company Capitex Holdings may have done with Comet, a company it bought for £1 and ‘helped' stay afloat for just over a year, before it went bankrupt again. OpCapita ultimately took home around £50 million from the deal, despite not following through with keeping Comet alive.

Perhaps the same thing will happen with GAME. The video game retailer currently owes Capitex Holdings £103 million according to the Telegraph. It's also paying over 7.5 per cent more interest on the debt, than a standard Barclays loan. So far, GAME has paid back £2.6 million, plus the aforementioned “monitoring fees,” of £636,000.

How long will these outlets survive under OpCapita? Source: Georgraphy.ie

GAME went through a big restructuring last year, dumping the Gamestation brand and closing unprofitable locations. Having further restored its relationship with publishers, GAME is now apparently set to have quite a solid 2013, with the financial reports suggesting: “the outlook for the business is positive with a strong line-up of AAA releases and the launch of the new Wii U available to support a healthy Christmas trading period.”“In 2013, there is much anticipation around the release of Grand Theft Auto V and the company looks forward to further new hardware releases from Microsoft and Sony in coming years.”

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