An Unlikely Partnership

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gamestop_thinkgeek

Last week there was speculation that Hot Topic would be purchasing Thinkgeek. And honestly, we were excited for the prospect, especially given their recent track record. However, today, in an interesting turn of events, it was announced that Gamestop (yes, THAT Gamestop) would be acquiring Thinkgeek.

“GRAPEVINE, Texas & FAIRFAX, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), a family of specialty retail brands that makes the most popular technologies affordable and simple, and Geeknet, Inc. (Nasdaq: GKNT) (“Geeknet”), the parent company of ThinkGeek and ThinkGeek Solutions, today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which GameStop will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Geeknet’s common stock for $20.00 per share in cash. The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of both companies and will be completed by means of a tender offer. The transaction has a total equity value of approximately $140 million, including $37 million of cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2015.

Geeknet also announced that it had terminated its previously announced merger agreement with Hot Topic, Inc. (“Hot Topic”). Following discussion with both GameStop and Hot Topic, the Board of Directors of Geeknet determined that the GameStop transaction represented a superior proposal. Geeknet will pay Hot Topic a termination fee pursuant to the Hot Topic agreement, for which GameStop has agreed to reimburse Geeknet.”

Read the rest of the press release here.

While we typically don’t do this type of post, but there’s no denying that this could easily affect the future of geek fashion as it is related to Thinkgeek. Our hope is that Thinkgeek remains as it is, and continues to be a great source of geeky items. However, there’s still cause for concern given that this is territory that Gamestop has never been a part of.

We’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this acquisition as it develops, and hope for the best. What are your thoughts on this? We’d love to hear them in the comments!