Hot Topic Is Acquiring ThinkGeek, Shall Become More Powerful than You Could Possibly Imagine

Jill Pantozzi

Published: May 26, 2015 12:02 pm

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Geeknet, Inc. (GKNT), the parent company of online retailers ThinkGeek and ThinkGeek Solutions, Tuesday said it would be acquired by Hot Topic, Inc., a mall and web-based specialty retailer and a portfolio company of private equity firm Sycamore Partners, for $17.50 per share.

The acquisition, which has a total equity value of about $122 million, will be completed by means of a tender offer to be commenced shortly.

First of all, congrats to ThinkGeek! They’ve been a nerd favorite for a while what with their amazing April Fool’s Day items and their Star Trek phaser remote and such. Your mileage on Hot Topic may vary but for a nerdy teen in the late 90s/early 00s, they were about the only game in town to find merchandise related to video games and superheroes. They’ve certainly expanded in that area since then and have recently proved extra popular with the TMS crowd thanks to their partnership with Her Universe and other brands we love.

How will the new management affect the day-to-day at ThinkGeek? We’re not sure yet. They certainly have a great thing going on their own so let’s hope Hot Topic just helps them do more of that.

(via Eric Limer)

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Author

Jill Pantozzi

Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."