Let’s play!
Game was founded when the electronic games market was still in its infancy. In the early 1990s Game was one of only two businesses aiming to create a national chain of specialist electronic games shops.
By 1993 the founders of Game had opened 12 shops and required further capital to expand the business. They were impressive entrepreneurs, capable of driving rapid expansion. The company had a modern identity which set it apart from the music and multiple retailers attempting to expand in the sector.
The performance of the original retail units opened by Game before the Graphite investment had been encouraging. New shop units were relatively cheap to open and proved to be profitable in most mid-sized and large UK towns. The market was expanding rapidly and there was a real opportunity to become the leading specialist electronics game retailer in the UK.
Under Graphite's ownership, Game:
- expanded from 12 to 60 shops across the UK
- became the second largest specialist electronic games retailer in the UK
- weathered the storm of game technology cycles which had a significant impact on profit
- increased operating profit from near zero in 1993 to £7.1 million at exit
In 1998 Game was listed on the London Stock Exchange, generating a multiple of 7.9 times cost and an IRR of 60 per cent.
