TOKYO: Japanese toymaker Tomy said on Friday it would acquire the US firm behind the Thomas the Tank Engine brand as it seeks to expand its global business amid shrinking domestic demand.
Tomy has agreed with RC2 Corp. to launch a public tender offer in late March with the aim of wholly owning the Illinois-based toy giant. The transaction value is about $640 million.
The proposed purchase price represents a premium of some 30.9 percent compared with RC2's average share price in the past three months.
Tomy has set growth in the global market at the core of its mid-term business strategy as the domestic market outlook remains uncertain due to Japan's low birth rate and sluggish personal consumption, the company said in a statement.
The acquisition will enable Tomy to increase the ratio of overseas sales to 31 percent of the total from 17 percent in the year to March 2010, according to Tomy, the maker of Tomica toy cars.
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