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Group Plans Buyout of Australian Anime Firm's Parent
posted on by Mikhail Koulikov
Australian private equity group Archer Capital is spearheading a leveraged buyout of Funtastic Ltd., a toy company that is the corporate parent of Madman Entertainment, Australia's largest anime and manga distributor. Funtastic's net profits for the last year have dropped 60 percent, and its share prices have been falling since the beginning of 2008, from AU$1.18 to as low as 36.5 cents a share in March. Shares are now valued at 70.5 cents a share, increasing once Archer's "non-binding indicative proposal" to buy the entire company at 80 cents per share had been made.
Recently, Funtastic's managing director, Tony Oates, has reportedly been considering selling off the company's non-toy assets, while retaining its core business. Madman Group, which Funtastic acquired for 34.5 million Australian dollars (US$26.5 million) in 2006, is its major non-toy division, although Funtastic also has an interactive entertainment/videogame distribution unit.
Source: The Age
