Blockbuster Divestitures
As part of an ongoing effort to get lean and streamline its business ventures, Blockbuster Inc., the leading movie rental chain, sold its UK game retail unit, Game Station, to the British-based Game Group plc for $150m in cash. In a statement, Blockbuster CEO John Antioco said the sale "underscores our intent to focus on our Blockbuster-branded assets in North America in support of our goal to grow our overall share of the video rental market, both in-store and online." This announcement follows several other similar divestitures. In 2006, Blockbuster sold its Movie Trading Co. locations and Movie Brands Inc. subsidiary, and sold its Taiwan subsidiary. Blockbuster has also sold its U.S.-based Rhino Video Games. While much of the sale’s proceeds are earmarked to pay down debt, there is little doubt the company wants more free cash flow available for the heavy toll of marketing expenses it’s been taking in its all-out war with Netflix.
