GameStop And EB Merger Gets Green Light

Officials from video game retail chains GameStop and Electronics Boutique have announced that the federal antitrust waiting period for their proposed merger is over and that the deal to join the two companies is now ready to go ahead. The proposed merger was first announced this April, with a deal worth approximately $1.4 billion. The first obstacle to the merger was a mandatory waiting period, with monopoly regulators apparently showing particular interest in the sale of used games. According to Steve Axinn, special counsel for GameStop, “the real question was pricing”. However, the two companies were able to show that pricing did not vary in markets in which the two companies currently compete compared to those where they do not. The next step for the deal is to be approved by the stockholders of both companies. If this happens then the merger is expected to take place in the third quarter of this year. If ratified, the merge would create a single company representing 20 to 30 percent of the overall market for video game products in the United States, and practically the entire market for used games.