Rumour - Hasbro to buy Mattel

A couple years ago there was some talk about Hasbro and Mattel looking to merge, but after greater growth at Hasbro and share buybacks, Hasbro could now be looking to buy out Mattel.

Even though Mattel is seen as the biggest toy company in the world (according to the amount of sales), Hasbro appears to be the one that is worth more.... and if this actually happens, it could see a number of rival brands under the one company, and the potential for even more unusual crossovers and Verses toys/sets.

But it could also see a dominance of the global toy industry that could squeeze out smaller players, or see long time brands (like Transformers) become a smaller portion (focus) of the new company, that would probably see a less fan-focussed attitude to these sorts of Brands.

Seiberton also posted an article this weekend saying Hasbro was going to buy Takara. I'm taking any takeover rumours with a mountain of salt.

It will all become Barbie :)

At least this opens a chance for MOTU to have some light shined upon once again if the rumour us true. Mattel seems to treat it more like a nuisance than a recognisable franchise.

Hasbro should buy Harmony Gold, so that we can get some proper transforming Robotech toys... or just SOME Robotech toys at all.

Would this get past the US anti-trust laws?

Microsoft had to prop up Apple for a time so they didn't violate anti-trust and have the feds break them up...

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Originally Posted by griffin

Hasbro should buy Harmony Gold, so that we can get some proper transforming Robotech toys... or just SOME Robotech toys at all.

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That would be awesome!

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Originally Posted by dirge

Would this get past the US anti-trust laws?

Microsoft had to prop up Apple for a time so they didn't violate anti-trust and have the feds break them up...

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Tell that to Disney :p

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Originally Posted by dirge

Would this get past the US anti-trust laws?

Microsoft had to prop up Apple for a time so they didn't violate anti-trust and have the feds break them up...

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A: The Trump administration is in favour of big business to the point where they are going to let AT&T and Time Warner merge 99% intact despite saying before the election it would never be allowed.

B: A combined Hasbro and Mattel will still have plenty of competition because of Bandai Namco, Jakks Pacific, McFarlane Toys, Takara Tomy, etc.

In the case of Microsoft in the 90s it really was the case that 99 point something percent of the market was made up by Microsoft and Apple combined so seeing Apple go would have been effectively a 100% monopoly.

I can just see a new Barbie appear on the shelves in a few years..

“Oooh, how about this one? Her name is Alice.”
“And look Mummy, she does something called a One-step see!”
..CLICK
“AARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

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Originally Posted by griffin

Hasbro should buy Harmony Gold, so that we can get some proper transforming Robotech toys... or just SOME Robotech toys at all.

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YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Mattel have apparently rejected an offer by Hasbro for being too low (which means they must be considering it)... so this could still happen eventually, if Mattel's value drops or Hasbro offers more money.

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Originally Posted by griffin

Mattel have apparently rejected an offer by Hasbro for being too low (which means they must be considering it)... so this could still happen eventually, if Mattel's value drops or Hasbro offers more money.

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I wonder if Hasbro will try a hostile takeover now, it seems to be all the rage at the moment.

In video games Vivendi is trying a hostile takeover of Ubisoft and in tech Broadcom is trying a hostile takeover of Qualcomm which will be the 4th biggest merger in history.