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Mattel to expand with acquisition of Mega Brands
Mattel and Mega Brands have announced a defi nitive agreement for Mattel’s acquisition, through a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mattel, Inc., of Mega Brands for US$460m. The acquisition advances Mattel’s global growth strategy of building upon its portfolio of brands by expanding into two of the fastest-growing toy categories. Mega Brands is the number two player in the $4b construction building sets category with its Mega Bloks brand, as well as a competitor in the $2b arts and crafts category. Bryan G. Stockton, Mattel Chairman and CEO, said: “A key pillar of our global growth strategy is the strategic acquisition of brands that will both benefi t from our scale and help extend our reach into new and growing categories. The construction play pattern is popular, universal and has had one of the fastest growth rates over the past three years. We look forward to helping Mega Brands accelerate its global growth, providing more choices for more children and their families.” Mattel’s brands will complement Mega Brands’ fl agship Mega Bloks and existing licensed brands, such as Halo, Skylanders, Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Power Rangers, Hello Kitty, SpongeBob SquarePants and others. The acquisition will give Mattel the opportunity to broaden its relationship with its entertainment partners. The acquisition also creates the opportunity to grow the Mega Brands arts
and crafts business, with brands including Rose Art and Board Dudes; the global category provides growth opportunities for Mattel with its core brands and entertainment and licensing partners. Marc Bertrand, Mega Brands president and CEO, said: “Mega Brands has built leading positions in large, growing categories by providing engaging creative experiences for children and families through innovative, well- designed and high-quality products, and Mattel is the ideal partner to take our brands to the next level. We are confi dent Mattel’s scale and global platform spanning 150 markets - combined with the expertise of our people in the construction and arts and crafts categories - will create tremendous growth opportunities for our brands.”
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DKL to distribute Breyer Animal Creations in UK
Reeves International has appointed DKL as the exclusive distributor of Breyer Animal Creations’ line of horse toys and collectable model horses throughout the UK and Ireland. DKL will be distributing the entire Breyer range from its Horse Play collections of Classics, Stablemates, Pony Gals and accessories, as well as its collectable traditional range. The new 2014 Breyer range features models, barns and craft activity sets including two model horse and book sets from famed British equestrian Pippa Funnell, and a horse and book set based on Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse. Famed British thoroughbred racing legend Frankel has now joined the Breyer stable in the traditional portrait model range. Tony Fleischmann, president of Reeves International, said: “We have signifi cantly expanded our horse play line for girls ages 4-12 years with great new model horses and accessories offered in a variety of retail price points. With DKL, we look forward to introducing more children than ever to the wonderful world of horses through Breyer.” A new 2014 Breyer UK catalogue and information will be sent to retailers shortly.
Majen Immink appointed head of operations and sales for Toy Fair
Majen will assume the role on 1st May having spent more than six years with the BTHA as part of the communications team and overseeing the PR activities for Toy Fair. She replaces Simon Pilling who steps down from the role on 30th April. Majen said: “I look forward to working with the team to build on our strong exhibitor relationships and to maintain the high levels of customer service that are synonymous with Toy Fair.” Roland Earl, director general of the BTHA, added: “Majen has been key in delivering a fantastic event on the public relations and media side of the show and will move across to utilise her skills in the operations of the fair.” Simon Pilling will remain as the day-to-day contact for Toy Fair until he steps
down. Majen has begun a handover period to ensure a smooth transition and further correspondence will be sent out to confi rm the change of contact details. The BTHA will be looking to recruit a new member of the communications team to replace Majen.
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