Eurazeo-backed Asmodee buys Rebel

Nicole Tovstiga
01 February 2018

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Party games publisher Asmodee, backed by French private equity house Eurazeo, has agreed to acquire Polish board game distributor Rebel.

Following the transaction, Asmodee will use Rebel's product catalogue to access the Polish games market, which has an estimated size of €95m, according to Eurazeo.

Rebel has been distributing games from Asmodee and games publishers it owns such as Days of Wonder for around 10 years.

With the fresh capital, Rebel intends to strengthen and diversify its board and card game ranges in its local market.

Asmodee owns a portfolio of board and card games including Magic and Pokemon, and has made a number of bolt-on acquisitions since Eurazeo invested in the business in 2013.

Previous funding
Montefiore Investment bought Asmodee in a secondary buyout from Naxicap Partners in January 2008. The firm acquired a 60% stake in the company as part of a deal with management worth €40-50m.

Eurazeo then acquired Asmodee from Montefiore for an enterprise value of €143m in November 2013.

At the time of the deal, Eurazeo agreed to supply approximately €102m in the transaction, while Asmodee's management and founders reinvested €13m. Later, European Capital led a €65m refinancing, including debt and equity, alongside Tikehau Investment Management.

Eurazeo then provided acquisition finance to the company in January 2009 and May 2010.

Asmodee acquired a 60% stake in UK-based Esdevium Games in 2010 and acquired Belgian game distributor Hodin, Spanish games developer Cromola and Germany-based Proludo in 2009.

Company
Founded in 2003 by Piotr Katnik and headquartered in Gdańsk, Rebel is a distributor of board games and hobby products, in addition to producing its own games. Its products also include card games, roleplaying games and accessories. It is a distributor for board game publishers Days of Wonder, Asmodee, Eggert Spiele and Polish publishers Portal and Lacerta.

Asmodee is a publisher and distributor of party games, board games and trading cards. Founded in 1995, the company is headquartered in Paris with additional offices in the UK, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Canada and the US.

People
Asmodee Group – Stéphane Carville (CEO).
Rebel – Piotr Katnik (CEO).