THQ, one of the top publishers in the gaming industry is going through a frightening transition right now as they have announced that they have entered an asset purchase agreement with associates of Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. The agreement will include all of the assets of THQs operating business which consists of 4 studios and any games that are currently in development.
To facilitate the sale THQ and its domestic partners have agreed to voluntarily file Chapter 11 but have agreements with Wells Fargo and Clearlake for a debtor-in-possession financing with will be worth $37.5 Million. THQs foreign operations which includes Canadian studios are not included in the deal.
Day-to-day operations will continue as usual throughout the facilitation of the sale and all of the current games that are in development will continue pushing towards their future release dates. While it is sure to be a strange transition for all of those involved all initial indications are the Clearlake company have all intentions of continuing and pursuing new contracts that will allow these studious to continue to flourish and produce the top-tier games we are used to seeing from them.
The sale and filing are necessary next steps to complete THQ’s transformation and position the company for the future, as we remain confident in our existing pipeline of games, the strength of our studios and THQ’s deep bench of talent, said Brian Farrell, Chairman and CEO of THQ. We are grateful to our outstanding team of employees, partners and suppliers who have worked with us through this transition. We are pleased to have attracted a strong financial partner for our business, and we hope to complete the sale swiftly to make the process as seamless as possible.
THQ President Jason Rubin also commented on the sale
We have incredible, creative talent here at THQ. We look forward to partnering with experienced investors for a new start as we will continue to use our intellectual property assets to develop high-quality core games, create new franchise titles, and drive demand through both traditional and digital channels
Games that are currently featured on the THQ website include Company of Heroes 2, Metro: Last Light, Darksiders 2, WWE 13, and Saints Row the 3rd: The Complete Package.
