Asmodee, the French company that created some of the best-selling titles in the world, such as the Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Splendor and many others, distributor of Pokémon cards in almost all of Europe, is by far one of the most big publishers in the field of table games, but it could sell for the astonishing price of 1.5 billion EUR.
In fact, a recent report by Reuters, the US business magazine, states that Asmodee Group is currently considering selling the company, estimated at 1.5 billion euros, by hiring bankers to conduct a complex deal.
Guyancourt, a French-based firm owned by private equity firm Eurazeo SE (EURA.PA), has hired investment bankers to carry out a sale process, the sources said, who asked not to be identified because the resolutions are confidential.
Eurazeo is the multinational that holds the majority of the shares of the French company, so in fact it is the owner, and since it acquired it, in 2013, with an agreement of 143 million euros, Asmodee has started to expand significantly aggressive, becoming one of the giants of table games in Europe and the United States, where, however, it is currently facing some counterfeiting problems.
Also considering that the company has acquired various publishers and licenses over the years, such as Days of Wonder (Ticket To Ride, Five Tribes), Fantasy Flight Games (Star Wars Imperial Assault, Star Wars X-Wing, Arkham Horror, Android Netrunner, Game of Thrones, Star Wars Armada, Star Wars Legion), Plaid Hat Games (Mice & Mystics, Dead of Winter, Ashes, Stuffed Fables), Catan Studios (Catan), Space Cowboys (Splendor, TIME Stories, Elysium, Via Nebula) and More recently, Z-Man Games, which contains titles such as Love Letter, Carcassonne and the successful Pandemic series, are asking questions that come up almost spontaneously: who could ever have such large capital available to buy Asmodee Group? And will all the companies now associated will remain with Asmodee?
Unfortunately, these questions are currently not answered, neither Eurazeo nor Asmodee have commented on the situation.
However, the suspicions fall on another gaming giant, Hasbro, which already in 1999 managed to acquire Wizards of the Coast, the creator of Magic: The Gathering. Is he doing the same with Asmodee?