Hornby has agreed to promote the long-lasting slot automobile racing model Scalextric for £20 million in a transfer designed to strengthen its steadiness sheet and refocus the enterprise on its core manufacturers.
The Margate-based toy maker has struck a take care of family-owned funding automobile Purbeck Capital Companions, which is able to purchase Scalextric and its related mental property by way of a newly shaped holding firm, Scalextric Motorsports.
The transaction, which incorporates a mixture of upfront and deferred funds, will see Hornby use the proceeds to cut back debt and put money into its remaining portfolio, together with Airfix and its mannequin railway operations. Hornby is backed by Frasers Group founder Mike Ashley.
Scalextric was first launched in 1957 by inventor Fred Francis and rapidly turned a staple of British toy cabinets, permitting households to race miniature automobiles round electrical tracks at residence. Manufacturing was later moved to Hornby’s Margate manufacturing unit, the place the model turned synonymous with hands-on motorsport enjoyable for generations.
Purbeck Capital is led by Mark Brown, the previous chief government of US spirits large Sazerac, which owns manufacturers corresponding to Southern Consolation and Fireball. The Scalextric acquisition marks Purbeck’s first deal.
Brown stated the agency was “honoured and thrilled” to accumulate such a long-standing British motorsport model, describing Scalextric as a enterprise that has introduced households collectively for practically seven a long time.
“As we glance to a long-term future, with Scalextric as a now family-owned firm, we’re energised by the chance to proceed bringing aggressive racing enjoyable to households, whereas increasing into new areas of motorsport,” he stated. He added that the model additionally has scope to advertise bodily play and hand-eye coordination at a time when many households are looking for to steadiness display time with real-world actions.
As a part of the settlement, Brown can even tackle a task supporting Hornby with its wider strategic transformation plans. The intention is to create a gaggle construction through which particular person manufacturers can function extra independently and profitably.
The disposal displays Hornby’s ongoing efforts to stabilise its funds after a difficult interval for the standard toy sector, which has confronted rising enter prices, altering client habits and intense competitors from digital leisure.
By divesting Scalextric, Hornby is betting {that a} sharper concentrate on its core modelling manufacturers, mixed with a stronger steadiness sheet, will place the close to century-old enterprise for a extra sustainable future, at the same time as certainly one of its most recognisable names embarks on a brand new chapter underneath separate possession.
