미국에선 이런 소식이 많이 있었으면 좋겠는데…

Merger would bring family millions

By Wendy Tanaka

Inquirer Staff Writer

Investors in Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. will get a nice payout if its proposed merger with rival GameStop Corp. goes through – chief among them James “Jim” Kim and his family.

The Kim family – Jim; his wife, Agnes; and their children, David, John and Susan – stands to receive $441.4 million in cash and 9.1 million shares of GameStop.

Under terms of the deal announced Monday, shareholders would receive $38.15 a share in cash plus slightly more than three-quarters of a share of GameStop for each share of Electronics Boutique. The cash-and-stock deal amounted to a 34 percent premium to Electronics Boutique’s closing price last Friday.

The Kim family owns nearly 11.6 million shares, or about 47 percent, of West Chester-based Electronics Boutique. At yesterday’s closing price of $55.36, the family’s stake was worth $640.5 million.

Founded in 1977 as a kiosk in the King of Prussia mall owned by Agnes Kim, Electronics Boutique initially sold digital watches, calculators and radios. By the early 1980s, the business had expanded into two dozen malls and had revenue of $13 million.

In 1984, Jim Kim, a Korean immigrant who had been running computer chip packager Amkor Technology Inc. since the early 1970s, took over his wife’s business as well. Today, Electronics Boutique has nearly 2,000 stores in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

In its last fiscal year, ended Jan. 29, the company had net income of $52 million, or $2.13 a share, on revenue of nearly $2 billion.

Kim, 69, the company’s chairman, was not available yesterday to discuss the proposed merger with GameStop, based in Grapevine, Texas. His wife is no longer involved in the operations of Electronics Boutique.

Analysts said the deal, initially valued at $1.44 billion, would bring together two fast-growing retailers and allow them to expand abroad and better compete with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which would be eclipsed by the combined company as the nation’s No. 1 seller of video games.

The merger is expected to face an antitrust review by the Federal Trade Commission. The companies expect the deal to close before Labor Day.
Contact staff writer Wendy Tanaka at 215-854-2752 or wtanaka@phillynews.com.