GameStop buys French games retailer Micromania

Deal worth $700m

2 October 2008 16:20 GMT / By Verity Burns

Gaming retailer GameStop is set to acquire French gaming retailer Micromania, in order to gain a presence in France.

GameStop, which started up in America, now has a worldwide presence with stores spreading across 11 different countries.

After the deal closes, the company will gain Micromania's 322 locations across France, Europe's second-biggest video game market, which will push the company's store locations to 5,889 worldwide.

Micromania will be bought from private equity fun L Capital for $700 million, including debt, with GameStop saying it would fund the purchase through existing cash from the company, backed by a $150 million loan from Bank of America.

It has predicted the deal with be done by November, pending approval from the European Commission, and is GameStop has announced hopes for the addition to help boost Q4 earnings.

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