Yahoo Finance Mattel Makes Play For Tommee Tippee Owner
The owner of Barbie and Fisher-Price has emerged as a surprise potential suitor for Tommee Tippee, one of Britain's most prominent manufacturers of baby products.
Sky News understands that Mattel (NasdaqGS: MAT - news) , the New York-listed toy company, has requested financial information about Mayborn Group, which has been put up for sale by the private equity group 3i.
Mattel is not certain to bid for Mayborn ahead of a deadline for offers next week but has previously considered bidding for the company, banking sources said on Friday.
The American company was reported by Bloomberg this week to have held merger talks with Hasbro (NasdaqGS: HAS - news) , another leading global toy-maker, although it was unclear whether those discussions were still ongoing or how a deal would be structured.
If it does make a formal offer for Mayborn, it would pitch Mattel into competition for Tommee Tippee with buyout firms including Barings, Carlyle, Cinven and Montagu, insiders said.
Mayborn is expected to be valued at close to £300m by bidders, a price tag which would represent a successful outcome for 3i.
A sale to a trade buyer such as Mattel would aid Mayborn's efforts to grow the Tommee Tippee brand in the US as it tries to appeal to 'millennial mums', who are frequently influenced by social media.
Mayborn has seen its profits more than double under 3i's ownership, thanks partly to a string of innovative products such as its Perfect Prep machine to assist parents when they are about to feed their babies.
Nearly two-thirds of Mayborn's revenues now come from overseas, compared with 40% three years ago.
The company is chaired by Paul Mason, a retail veteran who also chairs Cath Kidston and who previously worked at Asda, Somerfield and Levi-Strauss.
The auction of Mayborn is being handled by Baird, the investment bank.
A successful sale would continue the revival of 3i under Simon Borrows, its chief executive.
When Mr Borrows took over, the group was heavily indebted and had a significant backlog of under performing companies in its portfolio that it was struggling to offload.
The company had also been under siege from an activist investor and was touted as a takeover target.
Since then, it has slashed the number of companies it invests in, culled jobs and closed offices in countries seen as peripheral to its core business.
Other companies in 3i's portfolio include Agent Provocateur, the lingerie brand, and Hobbs, the fashion retailer.
3i and Mayborn declined to comment on Friday.
