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I have a friend who recently lost his job at the seattle battle bunker. He says they are pumping out materials to inflate sales at the same time shutting down or cutting corners wherever they can to make the company look profitable for a dump.

Now normally I wouldn't post this if I just heard it as speculation from my friend, but its been going around my lfgs and some boards I frequent too. Anyone have anything more substantial then hearsay?

A lot of stock changed hands at the start of the year and this is an increasingly popular theory but no, nothing substantial to support it.

Been talked about a couple months ago on the Apocalypse 40k blog:
http://apocalypse40k.blogspot.com/2013/06/games-workshop-change-of-control-coming.html

While the signs point to setting the company up for sale, still not sure if it will happen. The latest financial report show GW not blazing any new trails, so buyers may be getting cold feet.

I've heard this on Dakka and other forums (rumours possibly all originating from the same place), but also from an lgs owner as well as a guy who helps run a miniature company. Don't think the latter frequent forums so it's a possibility that where they have 'heard rumblings' isn't from the same place.

Certainly the actions of the company in the past 6 months help create that kind of picture, but it might well come to nothing and could just be coincidental.

The company is publically traded and shares can be bought at anytime. i.e. it has been on sale since it was floated.

There is no majority shareholder to "dump" anything. IIRC the biggest holding is circa 13%.

The value in GW stock is that it remains relatively safe while generating a reasonable dividend and so is held by allot of pension funds. GW have just released another dividend and reported growth in a stagnant financial period. I don't see anyone dropping GW stock just now except for the usual trading reasons.

I also heard the same rumblings on the east coast about 2-3 months before the big discussion took place, I just didn't say anything until others started talking about it, in case information had been passed to seek out any information leakers, and I didn't want to risk this guy getting found out. Once it started spilling from others, I cast my information out there too.

How exactly are they 'pumping out materials to inflate sales'?

Do you mean 'making something and then selling it'?

 BryllCream wrote:
How exactly are they 'pumping out materials to inflate sales'?

Do you mean 'making something and then selling it'?

Yes, that's exactly what he means.

This keeps coming up every now and then – I can only put it down to the fact that most people do not know how a PLC works.

GW IS for sale, it has been from the exact moment that they listed themselves on the stock market. Anyone at all can go in and buy up all the shares, once you own over 50% you effectively own the company and anyone at all can do that at any time.

Now, if the question is are GW trying to make their stock value as high as possible – then yes they are, but then again they have a legal requirement to do so – it certainly isn't an attempt to “sell off the company” (at least not any more than it has already been sold off)

If anything, if you have a company that you desperately want to just sell off then you want to lower the stock price as much as you can, a company with a high profit ratio and a low stock price is a tempting target to be bought out, a company with a high stock price is a much less tempting target (as it would cost more to buy out)

Lets also not forget that the folks in charge of GW can desire to sell the company all they want, but it is the stockholders who untimately can decide if they want to sell or not. Now if someone came in and offered £5 per share more than it was “worth” they may very well do so, but at the moment, when dividends are still very good and profits keep rising I fail to see why any share holder would look to offload.

So, in answer to your question of are GW looking to sell – they already did, back when they floated on the stock market, any future sales are nothing to do with the GW board but are entirely upto the choices of the shareholders who now own the company.

You can pump up sales in the short term but nobody buys a 25 year old + company without doing their due diligence. When a company continues to grow for several years its no longer considered short term.

 azreal13 wrote:

 BryllCream wrote:
How exactly are they 'pumping out materials to inflate sales'?

Do you mean 'making something and then selling it'?

Yes, that's exactly what he means.

I see what you did there!

 azreal13 wrote:

 BryllCream wrote:
How exactly are they 'pumping out materials to inflate sales'?

Do you mean 'making something and then selling it'?

Yes, that's exactly what he means.

On topic: This has been a topic of much discussion around here. See here for an example. Today I honestly don't believe such a thing happens until it's actually true.

Stranger83 wrote:
This keeps coming up every now and then – I can only put it down to the fact that most people do not know how a PLC works.

GW IS for sale, it has been from the exact moment that they listed themselves on the stock market. Anyone at all can go in and buy up all the shares, once you own over 50% you effectively own the company and anyone at all can do that at any time.

Now, if the question is are GW trying to make their stock value as high as possible – then yes they are, but then again they have a legal requirement to do so – it certainly isn't an attempt to “sell off the company” (at least not any more than it has already been sold off)

If anything, if you have a company that you desperately want to just sell off then you want to lower the stock price as much as you can, a company with a high profit ratio and a low stock price is a tempting target to be bought out, a company with a high stock price is a much less tempting target (as it would cost more to buy out)

Lets also not forget that the folks in charge of GW can desire to sell the company all they want, but it is the stockholders who untimately can decide if they want to sell or not. Now if someone came in and offered £5 per share more than it was “worth” they may very well do so, but at the moment, when dividends are still very good and profits keep rising I fail to see why any share holder would look to offload.

So, in answer to your question of are GW looking to sell – they already did, back when they floated on the stock market, any future sales are nothing to do with the GW board but are entirely upto the choices of the shareholders who now own the company.

You realize your explanation is going to get ignored for not being juicy enough, right?

 BryllCream wrote:
How exactly are they 'pumping out materials to inflate sales'?

Do you mean 'making something and then selling it'?

No, he means is releasing new products at a rate far greater than at any other time in the company's history.

Saldiven wrote:

No, he means is releasing new products at a rate far greater than at any other time in the company's history.

Which they aren't doing. The release miniatures at about the same rate they have always done.

Orock wrote:
I have a friend who recently lost his job at the seattle battle bunker. He says they are pumping out materials to inflate sales at the same time shutting down or cutting corners wherever they can to make the company look profitable for a dump.

Now normally I wouldn't post this if I just heard it as speculation from my friend, but its been going around my lfgs and some boards I frequent too. Anyone have anything more substantial then hearsay?

Huh it's August already? Guess it's time for this thread again.

notprop wrote:The company is publically traded and shares can be bought at anytime. i.e. it has been on sale since it was floated.

There is no majority shareholder to "dump" anything. IIRC the biggest holding is circa 13%.

The value in GW stock is that it remains relatively safe while generating a reasonable dividend and so is held by allot of pension funds. GW have just released another dividend and reported growth in a stagnant financial period. I don't see anyone dropping GW stock just now except for the usual trading reasons.

gorgon wrote:

Stranger83 wrote:
This keeps coming up every now and then – I can only put it down to the fact that most people do not know how a PLC works.

GW IS for sale, it has been from the exact moment that they listed themselves on the stock market. Anyone at all can go in and buy up all the shares, once you own over 50% you effectively own the company and anyone at all can do that at any time.

Now, if the question is are GW trying to make their stock value as high as possible – then yes they are, but then again they have a legal requirement to do so – it certainly isn't an attempt to “sell off the company” (at least not any more than it has already been sold off)

If anything, if you have a company that you desperately want to just sell off then you want to lower the stock price as much as you can, a company with a high profit ratio and a low stock price is a tempting target to be bought out, a company with a high stock price is a much less tempting target (as it would cost more to buy out)

Lets also not forget that the folks in charge of GW can desire to sell the company all they want, but it is the stockholders who untimately can decide if they want to sell or not. Now if someone came in and offered £5 per share more than it was “worth” they may very well do so, but at the moment, when dividends are still very good and profits keep rising I fail to see why any share holder would look to offload.

So, in answer to your question of are GW looking to sell – they already did, back when they floated on the stock market, any future sales are nothing to do with the GW board but are entirely upto the choices of the shareholders who now own the company.

You realize your explanation is going to get ignored for not being juicy enough, right?

Of course it will, just look at what some clever dick posted before him and he didn't comment on.

 Zweischneid wrote:

Saldiven wrote:

No, he means is releasing new products at a rate far greater than at any other time in the company's history.

Which they aren't doing. The release miniatures at about the same rate they have always done.

New miniatures: yes.

Army books? They are launching allot more of those nowadays.

this "rumor" seems to pop up right around the same time GW releases quarterly results

PhantomViper wrote:


New miniatures: yes.

Army books? They are launching allot more of those nowadays.

So they secretly plan to re-brand themselves into a book-company - in an age of declining print-publishing - and dump themselves as such to the stock-market in spite their 25-year history of being the a profitable miniatures company with safe, if unexciting dividends for existing long-term shareholders?

If GW are releasing codexes and army books faster than before, it will only be a problem if they have to slacken the rate of new releases much lower than it was, and thereby get lengthy gaps in new publications.

However, they never used to update all the books for every edition of rules anyway. Perhaps the new release rate will allow that to be done, which surely would be a good thing for everyone.

Any potential gaps in the book schedule could be filled by new editions of Apocalypse, Cities of Death and so on. (I assume there are equivalents in Fantasy.)

 Kilkrazy wrote:
If GW are releasing codexes and army books faster than before, it will only be a problem if they have to slacken the rate of new releases much lower than it was, and thereby get lengthy gaps in new publications.

Probably why they started introducing Codex supplements.

Either way, I don't think the current financial report really captures the higher frequency of book releases much.

It ends on June 2, meaning Eldar (Iyanden, Farsight, those BL-android things, etc... the first Android Codex) are not in it. Nor is Apoc.

The year 2012/2013 covered by the current financial report had 6th Edition with Dark Vengeance, CSM, Dark Angels, Daemons and Tau for 40K, just one Codex more than the year 2008/2009 (which also had 5th) or the year 2009/2010 for example (haven't checked Fantasy)

So one Codex over average, and average miniature releases. The firesale people claim GW is doing simply aint there.

 Zweischneid wrote:

PhantomViper wrote:


New miniatures: yes.

Army books? They are launching allot more of those nowadays.

So they secretly plan to re-brand themselves into a book-company - in an age of declining print-publishing - and dump themselves as such to the stock-market in spite their 25-year history of being the a profitable miniatures company with safe, if unexciting dividends for existing long-term shareholders?

Or else maybe they've took a look at their own numbers, noticed the pattern that they get allot more sales of a particular army range when they released a new book for that army, and decided to try and expand sales that way.

But your explanation has allot more sarcasm in it so its probably the right on...

PhantomViper wrote:


Or else maybe they've took a look at their own numbers, noticed the pattern that they get allot more sales of a particular army range when they released a new book for that army, and decided to try and expand sales that way.

But your explanation has allot more sarcasm in it so its probably the right on...

Probably. GW is experimenting with the way they release their products? SHHOOOOCKING. They must be setting themselves up for some devious stock-market coup.

Honestly. I think you are probably spot on. GW is experimenting a bit with the way they publish things. Why shouldn't they? They have the success and financial buffer to do a bit of experimenting, even if it might backfire and - worst case scenario - they'll end up doing a bit worse in 2014 than they did this year or last year.

It's the context of the ludicrous threat-title that begs for sarcasm.

 Zweischneid wrote:

PhantomViper wrote:


New miniatures: yes.

Army books? They are launching allot more of those nowadays.

So they secretly plan to re-brand themselves into a book-company - in an age of declining print-publishing - and dump themselves as such to the stock-market in spite their 25-year history of being the a profitable miniatures company with safe, if unexciting dividends for existing long-term shareholders?

Hahahahaha oh my god I actually burst out laughing in the canteen at work

 Zweischneid wrote:

PhantomViper wrote:


Or else maybe they've took a look at their own numbers, noticed the pattern that they get allot more sales of a particular army range when they released a new book for that army, and decided to try and expand sales that way.

But your explanation has allot more sarcasm in it so its probably the right on...

Probably. GW is experimenting with the way they release their products? SHHOOOOCKING. They must be setting themselves up for some devious stock-market coup.

Honestly. I think you are probably spot on. GW is experimenting a bit with the way they publish things. Why shouldn't they? They have the success and financial buffer to do a bit of experimenting.

It's the context of the ludicrous threat-title that begs for sarcasm.

Where have I said that they shouldn't or that that is in any way shape or form a bad thing? People have been clamouring for a faster release schedule for as long as I've played GW games. The nr. 1 complain that I heard in the old days was that armies went almost decades without having an update...

And I don't believe for a second that GW is positioning themselves for a buyout or anything of the sort. I just think that they are continuing their current trend of trying to increase revenue without increasing costs. And this way at least (faster codex / army book release cycles), seems like a positive one for their games and fans.

May or may not be helpful:

http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.ca/2013/05/how-can-you-tell-when-business-is-in.html

PhantomViper wrote:

Where have I said that they shouldn't or that that is in any way shape or form a bad thing?

You didn't. But you entered the discussion in this context.

1. OP... "GW is pushing out more stuff, they must be looking for a buy-out/take-over/whatever"
2. Zweischneid.... "GW isn't actually releasing more Miniatures"
3. PhantomViper ... "But they are releasing more book".
4. Zweischneid [Sarcasm Mode]... "Books don't matter (because GW isn't a book company)".

If you didn't want to participate in the "Evidence-or-not-for-GW-doing-a-stock-market-stunt" discussion of this thread, why did you raise the book-thing in the first place?

As Batsignal is to Batman, GW Financials Threads are to Zweischneid.

And...no real news or rumors here.