that activity continues on the Gen Con front: a for purchase of the assets of Gen Con LLC, currently undergoing Chapter 11 restructuring, was filed last Thursday with the bankruptcy court. The letter names a “Gen Con Acquisition Group” as the buyer, though the group’s members are not identified. The buyer will agree to pay all of Gen Con’s outstanding debts, though this will be staggered over time by starting with $500,000 at date of closing, $400,000 a month later, and another $400,000 every six months until paid up. These debts, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation claim, will have 6% interest added to them. This plan is most likely the reason for Lucasfilm dropping its lawsuit against Gen Con earlier this month. The letter specifies a close date of December 31, 2008.
I guess there is a denial from PAX on enworld and one from Paizo at the Paizo boards… but I don’t think that WotC has actually outright denied that they are buying Gen Con.
Would they go through some shadow org to do it? Why bother?
I somehow doubt WOTC has either the brains or the cash to buy (back) Gen Con.
I would love to know who is in that group, though. I’m sure it will come out once the sale is complete
The filing is from Kentucky…where Troll and Toad is.
Maybe?
ICv2 checked with GAMA to see if it was them – it wasn’t. That sure seems like a counterintuitive guess toward who the buyer might be, but I suppose it wasn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility.
This should clear things up a bit:
http://www.gencon.com/2009/indy/press/releases/2008.11.26.press.aspx
Public Response to LOI
SEATTLE (November 26, 2008) Many of you have heard speculation about a pending Gen Con sale and I’d like to take this opportunity to address the situation.
On the eve of our deadline to file our final reorganization plan and disclosure statement, Gen Con counsel received an unsolicited “Letter of Intent†from Gen Con Acquisition Group for purchase of all the assets of Gen Con. We believe this offer was clearly timed to disrupt our ability to get a plan confirmed and is an attempt at a hostile takeover with the intention of ousting Peter Adkison as the owner.
The offer was suspiciously cryptic, with no letter of introduction, good will, or summary of intentions for forward management and opportunities for current staff. Given the date of submission, the lack of prior outreach from this group, and the overt omission of intentions regarding management of business operations, it was difficult to take this offer seriously. It’s from an anonymous group that clearly does not understand the value Peter brings to Gen Con. Any acquisition offer that relies on future profits of the business to service the outstanding debt that does not have a provision for Peter’s continued involvement is not a sound offer.
Challenges with considering the offer aside, I have a responsibility to our creditors to consider any alternatives to reorganization. As such I have diligently reviewed the offer in conjunction with our creditor committee and we have determined it is a high risk proposition with far too many negative implications and is not in the best interest of our creditors. It is our intent to disregard this offer and continue toward confirmation of a plan substantially similar to the offer filed with the Court.
Our goal this last year has been to stabilize our operations and establish that Gen Con Indy could be operated profitably. As such we had our first profitable year since 2005 and are confident in our ability to fund our reorganization plan. Throughout this process we’ve cooperated and worked closely with our creditor committee – we believe they support our plan. We’re expecting our creditors will vote to accept the plan and are currently scheduled to reemerge from Chapter 11 in early January.
The last few months have been very busy here in the office and the plans for Gen Con Indy 2009 couldn’t be shaping up any better. I have the distinct pleasure of leading a small team of dedicated and passionate individuals who live, breath, eat and sleep Gen Con. In any organization there is always room for improvement, but it is truly a labor of love for all of us here and an incredible honor for me to be the steward for an event that is as unique and special as Gen Con is. It’s more than a business – it’s more than a convention – it’s an experience that touches each of us in a deeply personal manner and brings us together as a community.
We’re excited to bring you the Best Four Days of Gaming! for years to come and we thank you for your support and faith in us.
Adrian Swartout
President
Gen Con LLC
Hoo-boy! Isn’t paying off past debt with projected profit on material what sinks just about every game company? Any freelancer who has ever been burned can tell you that. $35 at my local town hall and a name later and I too can be a legit business, ready to send out business plans and offers despite the fact that I have no idea what I’m doing. Better to stay the course and slowly repair things than go down in a spectacular ball of flame. I LIKE GenCon and I’d prefer that it stick around.
Unsolicited, unannounced, and unidentified – sounds like a bad deal all the way around. Very shady.
Due to the recent information that has come to light, I’ve posted a new story to highlight the developments over here.