Same old rumours

[lattd]

So I was reading natfka's blog and a comment rose up that GW are pumping out codecii to prep for a sale to Hasbro. Now if you've been in this hobby long enough you have heard this rumour back in 4th and 5th.

Now that brings me to ask what other rumours always seem to resurface? Although not a rumour the GW are going down the pan yadayadayada appears every so often.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Plastic thunderhawk. It's not gonna happen, barring some huge change of focus/capability.

[Bigred]

The difference this time is that its not gamers who are seeing the signs of pre-acquisition moves by the company, but professional industry-watchers, and financial guys.

Also I dont thnk anyone has mentioned Hasbro by name as a certainty -just that GW is doing a variety of things that make sense if the goal is make themselves an attractive acquisition target. These types of deals take years to come together.

[Mr Mystery]

See, I don't buy it.

It's a profitable company with (arguably) an unassailable market dominance.

What's in it for them to sell? ( am a pleb when it comes to this stuff!)

[lattd]

The same things that look good to sellers also make sense when there's been a recession so it's people just thinking oh yep being sold, not oh that's smart management and well done for good choices during a down turn.

[Defenestratus]

See, I don't buy it.

It's a profitable company with (arguably) an unassailable market dominance.

What's in it for them to sell? ( am a pleb when it comes to this stuff!)

A nice lump sum payout for the shareholders....

[Bigred]

It's a profitable company with (arguably) an unassailable market dominance.
Which is exactly the position to be in when you want to be acquired, to achieve maximum company valuation.


A nice lump sum payout for the shareholders....

^^ That, some of whom are beginning to think about retirement.

And new ownership in the hands of some immensely deep pocketed organization what could take the franchise to places GW could only dream of. There are only a handful of organisations that could do it globally. It's not too hard to make up a short list.

[HsojVvad]

Hasbro? I must be living under a rock, I never herd these rumours. Not sure if that would be good or not. Is Hasbro the owners of Magic? I guess this could be good for competitive people in the tourny scene.

I guess Hasbro knows how to deal with the niche market. Now if this does become true, I wonder if Hasbro would put in Transformers and GI Joe into 40K? :P

[Archon Charybdis]

I don't care until it produces a NERF shuriken catapult.

[Bigred]

Hasbro did have the cash to buy Wizards of the Coast ages ago when they were white hot. They have only expanded it since then. Just look at what they have done with decades old franchises like GI Joe, and Transformers.

Take a moment, close your eyes and imagine what that kind of cash reserves, manufacturing volume, media outlets, and distribution channels could do with any IP they decided to gobble up...

I'm lazy - I just want toys. Lots of awesome toys!

[lattd]

Question is what does Hasbro get from buying GW it would require a lot of money to purchase then market and expand especially multi part plastics. Didn't Hasbro have a miniature game many years back and look at how well that did.

[Wolfshade]

I suppose I should talk to one of my mates who is a brand manger at Hasbro about this...

[eldargal]

I don't buy it, these rumours haven't just been floating around since 4th edition but since the mid 90s. While some aspects of GWs behaviour might be consistent with seeking to be acquired by a larger company they are also consistent with just trying to maximise revenue amongst other things. So I'll believe it when I see it. It would probably be a very good thing for the hobby so it isn't fear that prompts my disbelief. GW with Hasbro scale investment would be amazing.

[Mr Mystery]

Surely Hasbro would have bought it up whilst it was cheap a few years back, rather than you know, wait until it was more expensive?

Plus, surely any talk prior to an actual buy out of people interested in a buy out would be insider trading?

[Psychosplodge]

I suppose I should talk to one of my mates who is a brand manger at Hasbro about this...

You know people at Hasbro :)

[Wolfshade]

Depends if a) they know and b) I increase my shareholding dramatically

[eldargal]

Surely Hasbro would have bought it up whilst it was cheap a few years back, rather than you know, wait until it was more expensive?

Plus, surely any talk prior to an actual buy out of people interested in a buy out would be insider trading?

Yep, the GW share price is at it's highest since 2005 and nearly at the levels it reached then at the peak of the LOTR bubble.

[the10taken]

I don't buy this rumour. It may because I would hate to see this happen. I do not believe that it would be good for GW in the long run.

[Psychosplodge]

But we could finally have Warhammer:Equestria War is magic.

[Wolfshade]

I'm still angry with Hasbro for not making Star Trek: Birth of the Federation 2, the first one was awesome, so much so I have a virtual machine just to run it.