On May 1, 2016, Spin Master Corp. (TSX: TOY) acquired all of the outstanding shares of Sago Sago Toys Inc. (Sago Mini), Toca Boca AB and Toca Boca Inc. (together, Toca Boca) from the Bonnier Group for an undisclosed price.
Spin Master is a leading global children’s entertainment company that creates, designs, manufactures and markets a diversified portfolio of innovative toys, games, products and entertainment properties. Spin Master is best known for award-winning brands including Zoomer™ Dino, Bakugan Battle Brawlers™, Air Hogs®, and 2015 Toys of The Year, Bunchems and Meccanoid G15. Since 2005, Spin Master has received 63 TIA Toy of The Year (TOTY) nominations with 16 wins across a variety of product categories. Spin Master has been recognized with 12 TOTY nominations for Innovative Toy of the Year, more than any of its competitors. Spin Master is among a limited number of companies that not only develop and produce global entertainment properties, characters and content, but also monetize that content through the creation, sale and licensing of products. To date, Spin Master has produced five television series, including 2007 hit series Bakugan Battle Brawlers and its current hit Paw Patrol, which is broadcast in over 160 countries and territories globally. Spin Master employs over 1,000 people globally with offices in Canada, United States, Mexico, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Slovakia, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia.
Toca Boca, which has offices in Stockholm, San Francisco and New York, makes digital toys for children aged 3 to 9 and has released 32 apps that have been downloaded more than 140 million times. Sago Mini creates mobile apps for 2- to 5-year-olds. The Toronto-based company has released 16 apps that have been downloaded over 13 million times. Both Toca Boca and Sago Mini aim to encourage kids’ natural curiosity and self-expression, and have more than 15 million monthly active users around the world.
The Bonnier Group is a media group working in TV, daily newspapers, business and trade press, magazines, film, books, radio and digital media. With a base in the Nordic region and a substantial presence in the US, the UK and Eastern Europe, among other places, Bonnier has operations in 14 countries around the world and over 8,000 employees. The Bonnier Group is wholly owned by the Bonnier family.
Spin Master was represented in-house by Christopher Harrs, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. External representation was provided by its Canadian outside counsel Torkin Manes LLP with a team led by Jeffrey Cohen and Glen Eddie, and including Adrian Myers, Catherine Nicholson and Lisa Lifshitz. Phillips Nizer LLP (Monte Engler) acted as US outside counsel to Spin Master, and Lindmark Welinder AB (Bjorn Welinder) as Swedish outside counsel to Spin Master. KPMG provided tax and financial advice to Spin Master.
The Bonnier Group was represented by DLA Piper (Canada) LLP with a team led by Vaughn MacLellan and including Russel Drew (M&A), Kevin Fritz (tax) and Ryan Campbell (employment and labour) in Toronto and Mathias Berggren and Magnus Oskarsson (M&A) from DLA Piper’s Stockholm Office. PricewaterhouseCoopers provided advice to the Bonnier Group.