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Revell assets purchased by German investment group
Posted by enash
on Thursday, April 19, 2018 2:32 PM
What we know so far...
The bankruptcy of Hobbico has led to Revell’s assets being bought by a German investment group, listed in court documents as Blitz 18-313. It is based near Munich. Blitz also bought Hobbico Germany.
The sale was approved by a U.S. bankruptcy court Friday, April 13. Sale price was $3.9 million with several contingencies that could raise or lower the sum. Hobbico, based in Illinois, had owned Revell and was forced to sell it due to its bankruptcy.
Here’s what we know about the sale. No official announcement has come from Blitz. Our information comes from court documents and other industry sources.
- All Revell US operations ceased on Friday, April 13. The Illinois offices were closed and 15 people lost their jobs.
- Revell Germany will continue to operate as in the past with Blitz being its owner. No word on any layoffs or changes in Germany. Sources tell us that Revell Germany staff only found out about the sale on Friday, and no further details were available at that time.
- We believe model kits already in development, including the Ford GT that is due later this summer, will still be produced. We hear the Ford GT will now be boxed as a Revell Germany kit.
- There has been no announcement of a distributor for Revell Germany products that may be sold in the U.S. market. We suspect an announcement will come soon though as the investors will want to see cash flow get back to its previous levels as soon as possible. In addition, the court documents say that all inventory must be moved from the Hobbico warehouse in Champaign, Ill., within 30 days.
- Court documents say the sale included all molds and tooling owned by Revell US, so those now belong to Revell Germany.
- It also included Revell trademarks, such as Revell in various forms, Snap Tite and Snaptite, Junior Kit, Bad Medicine, Renwal, RM Kustom, California Wheels, Monogram, Pro Modeler, Revell Monogram, Red Baron, Ice T, and many more.
- There was at least one other bidder for Revell beyond the winning Blitz bid.
- Also up in the air due to Hobbico’s bankruptcy is the distribution of Italeri and Hasegawa models. Hobbico was their U.S. distributor. There has been no word yet on who else may take up Italeri and Hasegawa distribution in the U.S. market.
- Elizabeth Nash, Digital Editor of FSM
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