U.K. retailer GAME is making plans to float on the stock exchange under the name Game Digital two years after seeing over 300 store close when the company fell into administration.
In the 26-week period ending Jan. 25, 2014, the company saw a turnaround of £586.4 million in revenue, according to new filings. This is up from £427.3 million the year before.
"The turnaround of the GAME business is remarkable," said the company's non-executive chairman David Hamid in a prepared statement. "GAME in the U.K. has been transformed and strengthened, while Game in Spain has proved its resilience."
The company currently has 560 stores across both the U.K. and Spain.
"The Group now has exciting prospects for the future and I pay tribute to the colleagues within the business who have achieved this. We have a great team," he continued. "The retail landscape is ever-changing and the business has proved it is capable of taking advantage of that pace of change. I look forward in particular to rolling out our ground-breaking digital strategy, which should underpin the business for many years to come."
In addition to Hamid, four new non-executive directions have been hired ahead of this flotation, including John Jackson, Caspar Woolley, Lesley Watkins and Franck Tuil.
Floating stock refers to the shares that are available to public investors, not restricted stock held by company officers or controlling interest investors. Floating shares typically go up over time as companies will often sell shares to expand their business or to make an acquisition. Companies will generally choose to float on the stock exchange in order to access capital, create a market for the company's shares or to make an acquisition by offering listed securities.
The British retailer saw massive layoffs and store closures in 2012 as part of a last bid at attracting a buyer. At the time, the company had over 1,000 worldwide stores, but began consolidating its brands and closing retail stores, including liquidating Game Australia, throughout the year.