From ICv2:

Gen Con LLC, which has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings since February, has delayed the filing of its final plan and disclosure statement for emerging from bankruptcy as the result of an eleventh hour offer to purchase that arrived on the day before the plan was to be filed, according to Gen Con Chief Operating Officer Adrian Swartout.   A hearing was held by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington last Friday, November 21st, at which the plan was to be presented, but a delay was granted as a result of the offer, Swartout told ICv2.  Swartout declined to discuss the offer itself. 

Swartout confirmed that Gen Con's litigation with Lucasfilm was dismissed earlier this month in anticipation of a settlement.

The offer to purchase Gen Con's assets, from Gen Con Acquisition Group (via LivingDice.com), "an organization to be formed," proposed a purchase price consisting of an assumption and payment of the Make a Wish debt incurred as part of the last Gen Con SoCal, plus interest; and payments of $900,000 in the first thirty days after closing and additional payments of $400,000 every six months until all approved bankruptcy claims were paid.  Interest from the date of the deal would also be paid.

In effect, the current owners of Gen Con LLC would be left with an empty shell after the payment of Gen Con's creditors, so the deal is to acquire the assets of Gen Con in exchange for paying its debts in full; current ownership would be left with nothing.

The identity of the acquisition group was not disclosed; a lawyer from Louisville, Kentucky is the contact for the group.  It's also unclear how much money the acquiring group plans to insert into the deal, since the assets being acquired include Gen Con's cash, which could presumably be used to fund at least some of the payments.

If there were discounts to any debts negotiated as part of the reorganization plan that Gen Con had prepared to file, the new offer could present a higher pay-out to creditors.  But the timing and security associated with payments would also be a factor for the company's creditors.

The proposed Letter of Intent provides for a Breakup Fee of $50,000; there's also Bid Protection, in the form of a requirement for additional payments of $250,000 in cash or letter of credit over the amount of this offer.

Conditions to closing include due diligence, a mutually agreeable asset purchase agreement, and approval by the court.

More to come on this, we're sure.

11/24/08- Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Giveaway!

Only Four days left in this offer! Act quickly!
 
The first 1,000 people to mail the original barcode and receipt as proof of purchase for a Star Wars: Clone Wars starter and Star Wars: Clone Wars booster postmarked no later than November 27, 2008 will receive a free SW: Legacy of the Force booster. The barcodes and receipt must be mailed to:

Star Wars Miniatures Giveaway
c/o Wizards of the Coast
1600 Lind Avenue SW, Suite 400
Renton, WA 98057

Restrictions apply.

See the offer details here.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on November 17, 2008 at 07:00 PM

If you're interested in a copy of this great game before the holidays you may want to shop early, as situations such as this one tend to lead to shortages in product availability as we get closer to the transfer date.

Another great game line sold to one of the big two.

Catalyst Games has announced that it has submitted a bid for WizKids Games properties, including HeroClix, the Pirates PocketModel Game, Star Wars PocketModel TCG, BattleTech/MechWarrior, and Shadowrun. 

Catalyst already produces games based on BattleTech and Shadowrun under license from WizKids, which it says will continue in any case. The bid included not only those underlying properties but also the WizKids games based on them.

Catalyst was not on our original shortlist of companies that came to mind as potential acquirers of the WizKids properties.  But statements by company executives emphasized Catalyst's experience with licensed properties and its ability to ramp up for new acquisitions.  "Catalyst has demonstrated our ability to manage large and important intellectual properties," Catalyst majority owner Loren Coleman said.  Coleman recently met with Topps execs in New York to discuss the potential acquisition.

And Operations Manager (and former WizKids employee) David Stansel-Garner talked about Catalyst's potential entry into a new category--CMGs.  "While we would be new to the collectible miniatures market, we have proven experience in quickly acquiring the talent and infrastructure needed to produce high quality games," he said, referring to Catalyst's ramp-up in the wake of its acquisition of Battletech and Shadowrun licenses formerly held by FanPro.

A former WizKids Games employee has formed a new company, Pinata Games, for the purpose of acquiring the HeroClix Collectible Miniatures Game in the wake of the shutdown of WizKids.  Brand Manager Jake Theis, supported by a Save HeroClix movement centered around HeroClix fan sites, is seeking investment and other support for their new company and its efforts to acquire the brand.  A SaveHeroClix.com Website is up and operational as the current center for the new company's activities. 

WizKids Managing Director Justin Ziran is heading up the WizKids effort to support the line during the transition.

From ICv2:

Rackham's Confrontation and AT-43 miniature lines were acquired by a new company, Rackham Entertainment SAS, on October 28th.  Rackham Entertainment was founded by venture fund Entrepeneur Ventures and Lucas Velimirovic, who's the CEO of the new company.

Rackham SA had been under bankruptcy protection since August of last year.  Most recently, Rackham's lines had been distributed in North America by Fantasy Flight; that relationship ended last month.

The Rackham design studio had already designed the releases for the coming months; as a result, monthly releases for the next 12 months are already planned.  Five boxed miniature groupings will be released simultaneously worldwide for each of the two Rackham universes (AT-43 and Confrontation) monthly beginning in November. 

Rackham Entertainment has committed to maintain its retail prices at the same levels through the coming year, bucking a trend that has seen the world's largest miniature company (Games Workshop) enact a major price increase recently.

Beyond its plans for a steady, reliable release schedule, Rackham also has several initiatives planned to support sales of its products and expand the exploitation of its universes.  Retailer support will include limited edition figures for stores and a retail store locator on its Website.

Comic rights for the Rackham universes have been licensed to French publisher Soleil; Marvel is releasing some Soleil comics and collected graphic novels in the U.S..

Rackham also plans board games based on its universes.

The Topps Company announced today that WizKids will immediately cease operations and discontinue its product lines.

Scott Silverstein, CEO of Topps, said "This was an extremely difficult decision. While the company will still actively pursue gaming initiatives, we feel it is necessary to align our efforts more closely with Topps current sports and entertainment offerings which are being developed within our New York office."

Upon notifying our partners, Topps will immediately pursue strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without noticeable disruption. To that end, WizKids will continue supporting Buy it By the Brick redemptions for Arkham Asylum, and the December Organized Play events for HeroClix.

For consumer announcements, please refer to www.wizkidsgames.com over the coming days for further information.

The following is the first of two major announcements regarding holiday sales:

Phoenix Games is pleased to announce that beginning Thursday, November 6th we will be offering a holiday layaway program!

Select your gifts now, pay a portion of the total at set intervals and when it's all paid off take your games home!

We're even including free gift wrapping on all layaway items!

Full details will be available in store on Thursday!

Check it out! It's a great way to save some money on those ever-increasing credit card interest rates and fees!