Billionaire Isaac Larian makes good on his promise to try and save Toys R Us in the US and Canada. He has offered $890 million to buy about 300 stores in both countries. Now its up to Toys R Us to decide on the offer, he says.
Isaac Larian is the CEO of MGA Entertainment. Over the past few weeks he as been quite vocal about saving Toys R Us.
Larian even set up an online funding campaign with the goal to gain $1 billion to offer to save Toys R Us. Later, Larian said the campaign is just for publicity to attract attention. According to him this worked, as several big investors came to him open to participate in the deal.
Originally Larian said he is offering about $100 million of his own money. He also said he already has about $100 million ready from investors. But he needed about $1 billion. In the end, thanks to additional efforts, he has managed to gather about $890 million.
The offer includes $675 million for more than 200 Toys R Us stores in the US. It also featured $215 million for 80 Toys R Us stores in Canada.
“OK. I followed through on my part,” “Now it’s up to them to accept. Time is of the essence.”, wrote Larian on LinkedIn. Previously, Larian said the liquidation of Toys R Us would have a negative impact on the industry. He wants to bring some changes to the toy chain. They include turning the stores into entertainment hot spots.
Toys R Us hasn’t commented on the offer yet. The retailer needs billions to pay debt, but it also needs every possible additional dollar to make these payments easier. So, it’s definitely a good offer, but the decision is still up in the air. It’s not clear whether Toys R Us will agree to give its brand or whether the deal features the retailer to remain as a shareholder like in other businesses. But at least, there’s a chance for some stores to remain.
