LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Game, a video games retailerbought out of administration by private equity investors lastyear, reported a significant rise in Christmas sales helped bynew console launches ahead of a possible return to the stockmarket.
A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Gamewas close to appointing advisors for an initial public offeringexpected to take place later this year, with HSBC,Canaccord Genuity and Liberum Securities likely to co-ordinatethe float.
The British company declined to comment on a possible floatwhen asked by Reuters.
The video games retailer reported a 83 percent rise in totalsales in the six weeks to Jan 4, with a 213 percent in onlinesales.
Like-for-like store sales, which strip out the closure ofshops, rose 90 percent it said. Around half of the chain'sroughly 600 UK premises have closed since April 2012.
Chief Executive Martyn Gibbs said two new games consoles,both released in November, had helped boost sales during thefestive period.
"This strong overall performance for our second peak tradingperiod was driven by our ability to capitalise on the hugelysuccessful launches of Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony'sPlayStation 4," he said.
"This was supported by the release of well-received newgames, significant growth in online and digital sales and thecontinued success of our pre-owned games offering."
The firm, which employs approximately 3,000 staff in 320stores, appointed PwC as its administrator after failing to finda buyer for the business in March 2012, and is now owned byprivate equity investors including OpCapita.