Game starts the search for takeover as rent day looms

The beleaguered video games retailer Game Group will confirm to the stock market today that it is seeking a takeover to prevent it collapsing.

The group, which owns 600 stores in the UK and employs 10,000 worldwide, faces a huge rent bill on quarter day in a couple of weeks' time. It is in talks with its lenders, having admitted it could breach its banking covenants.

The investment bank Rothschild has been called in to run a rapid sale process, but the accountancy firm Deloitte is also lined up for a so-called pre-pack administration if that proves the best way to find a buyer.

In recent weeks some of the biggest producers of video games have refused to supply Game unless they were paid up front.

The group has been hit by increasing competition from supermarkets who discount the best-selling video games in order to drive traffic through their stores. It has signalled that losses for the year to the end of January will be around £18m.