The stricken video games specialist Game appears to have been handed a lifeline after the owner of the electricals chain Comet emerged as a white knight buyer.
Turnaround group OpCapita is understood to be in talks with Game's lenders, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, with a view to buying its debt as well as settling its bills with suppliers in full. Any rescue deal is likely to involve closure of many of its 600 UK stores.
Game is facing a financial crunch after worried lenders reduced its borrowing facilities earlier this year, which meant it had to secure more generous terms with its major suppliers.
While some game publishers have backed the company, others, including major industry players Electronic Arts (EA), Nintendo, Tecmo Koei and Capcom have not. This has left Game without stock of keenly awaited new releases such as Fifa Street, Mass Effect 3, Ninja Gaiden 3 and Street Fighter X Tekken.
On Monday, Game put itself up for sale but warned investors that any rescue deal was unlikely to result in any value being attributed to the shares of the company. The retailer desperately needs cash before the end of the month to pay its quarterly rent bill.
If it fails to pay up it could be pushed into administration, putting 10,000 jobs in the UK and overseas on the line.
Separately, the trade magazine MCV reported that Asda's owner, Walmart, was also interested in the chain. A Walmart spokesman declined to comment with industry insiders suggesting such a move was unlikely. However, despite few details of OpCapita's plans for Game, news of its interest sent the group's battered share price up more than 80% – or 0.95p to close at 2.1p, valuing the business at £7.3m.
Game confirmed that a suitor was interested in providing the company with additional funding.
"The third party is seeking a dialogue with the group's current lenders, however there is no certainty to the outcome," said the company in a statement. "At the same time, the board remains in its own discussions with its current lenders as it continues to conduct a review of its business and assets. It is uncertain whether any of the solutions currently being explored by the board will be successful."
Game has 1,270 stores, some trading under the brand Gamestation, in nine European markets and Australia. There are 600 stores in the UK employing about 6,000 people. The group agreed fresh lending facilities with banks last month but the loan was not enough to reassure suppliers, who have balked at being asked to give the group better terms to help it stay afloat. It has already signalled that losses for the year to the end of January are likely to be around £18m.
Game, like music and movies retailer HMV, has been hit hard by tough competition from the internet and supermarkets, which often sell new blockbuster titles as loss leaders. It is also grappling structural change as digital formats replace physical sales. The company suffered a woeful Christmas, with like-for-like sales down 12.9% in the eight weeks to 7 January, with hope pinned on a new generation of consoles including the Sony PlayStation Vita, which went on sale last month, stimulating sales.
