Giorgio N Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 9 hours ago, VMA131Marine said: There is some interesting information about the Revell sale on YouTube search for "the stash report" and watch the April 2nd video. There are apparently two bidders for the Revell lots: 1 Revell Germany management has bid to buy Revell Germany 2 Another entity has bid to buy Revell USA and Revell Germany and perhaps Hobbico's mass distribution arm United Model Distributors. These bids are clearly overlapping as to what would be acquired and this is the cause of the delay in announcing a buyer. Having Revell Germany be an independent company again would be a good outcome but that might result in the buyer for Revell US backing out if they can't get both Revells. Not surprising, they did it before and it was expected that they could do it again, as some modellers here had already suggested in this thread and in another now locked As the German management know the situation and the potential of their side of the business, they are in the best position to judge if running Revell Germany independently has value, and clearly they have decided that it has. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMA131Marine Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 (edited) Big News! Revell Germany and Revell USA have been sold to an entity called "Blitz 18-313 Gmbh" for $3.9 million I have to say that is an astonishingly low price considering the asking price was ~$10 million. My guess is that the purchaser is the current Revell Germany management team. And now we have the interesting situation where Revell USA is owned by it's German spin-off. Here's a link to the purchase agreement: http://upshotservices.s3.amazonaws.com/files/ff11e972-f6c7-458c-a00b-05e14958d7f7/5ed51134-635a-4fd4-882c-7cf95721ae59.pdf Digging into the purchase agreement further, I see why the sale price was so low. The new owner has to make good on $1.3 million in unpaid licensing fees, which includes about $1 million to Disney (presumably Star Wars) In addition, it appears that the new company will need to repay up to ~$41 million (shown in the schedule of assets and liabilities in Hobbico's original BK filing) in intercompany loans that Hobbico provided to Hobbico Gmbh and Revell Germany. I think Revell Germany's sales last year were about $50 million so this is a pretty big number in relation to revenue. Update: The auction transcript is now available ( http://upshotservices.s3.amazonaws.com/files/ff11e972-f6c7-458c-a00b-05e14958d7f7/f14c1828-a160-4bbc-8d90-2e6ba2f58964.pdf ) This speaks of the intercompany loans of Hobbico to Hobbico Gmbh and Revell Gmbh as assets to be acquired by the purchaser. That means to me that this purchase agreement effectively wipes out the loans. This is a much better outcome than what I reported above. Here's how the purchase price is broken down: Intercompany loans: $1 Shares in Hobbico Gmbh: $800,000 Tools/Molds: $50,000 (yes, really) IP/Trademarks: $49,999 Inventory: $3,000,000 Edited April 12, 2018 by VMA131Marine 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Fabulous news indeed! I'm particularly happy that the "new" RoG is not overwhelmingly debt burdened. They might have a better chance to raise capital they need for a possible reorganizing and/or restructuring of their core business. A healthy company can also deliver us good new model kits. Quoting Harry & Pauls' Abramovich, "I'll buy them". V-P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roym Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Is it confirmed to be Revell Germany management? Great news if so. Could be either way if not..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMA131Marine Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 8 minutes ago, roym said: Is it confirmed to be Revell Germany management? Great news if so. Could be either way if not..... We know that the two people who signed the pruchase agreement as Managing Directors for Blitz 18-313 Gmbh were Christian Vonier and Steffen Gorig. Christian Vonier appears to be Head of Finance at Quantum Capital Partners AG Link Steffen Gorig is CEO of Quantum Capital Partners AG Link This does not mean that the current Revell Germany management team will not stay in place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary C Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Five minutes on google shows....they appear to have been bought by a German private equity firm. Article here.... http://www.stimme.de/heilbronn/wirtschaft/2018/Finanzinvestor-will-Modellbau-Hersteller-Revell-uebernehmen;art140955,4011996 Blitz 18-313 started in January this year. The two names signed on their behalf on the Hobbico court documents tie up with this company named in the above article. https://www.quantum-capital-partners.com/en/team.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelldoc Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 And here are the news with a comment: modelldoc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMA131Marine Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 34 minutes ago, modelldoc said: And here are the news with a comment: modelldoc He basically just repeated what I posted above, except he didn't read the sale documents as carefully since he did not know the sale price was $3.9 million. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 11 hours ago, VMA131Marine said: Update: The auction transcript is now available ( http://upshotservices.s3.amazonaws.com/files/ff11e972-f6c7-458c-a00b-05e14958d7f7/f14c1828-a160-4bbc-8d90-2e6ba2f58964.pdf ) This speaks of the intercompany loans of Hobbico to Hobbico Gmbh and Revell Gmbh as assets to be acquired by the purchaser. That means to me that this purchase agreement effectively wipes out the loans. This is a much better outcome than what I reported above. Here's how the purchase price is broken down: Intercompany loans: $1 Shares in Hobbico Gmbh: $800,000 Tools/Molds: $50,000 (yes, really) IP/Trademarks: $49,999 Inventory: $3,000,000 The sale of the Interco loans is covered in Art. II 2.1 (e) of the APA. At first reading I didn't make sense of that item, as from the PoV of the German entities it's debt, but the APA is about buying assets off Hobbico US, which the loans are - indeed it means that Blitz bought the loans, which means Hobbico Germany and Revell GmbH technically remain indebted but to their new shareholder. Which indeed effectively wipes the debt out. It's a rather massive devaluation factor, buying 41 Mio for 1... I had a look at the commercial register for Blitz, but I'd have to pay to see the shareholders' list, and likely it wouldn't show yet if the Revell management team participates in the shares of Blitz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Great news ! I had no doubt that Revell, or at least the German side of Revell, would have found a buyer but seeing the whole thing sorted finally stops all the speculations The price paid was IMHO pretty good, I hope that the new owners will run Revell properly and that the company will keep giving modellers good quality kits 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 17 minutes ago, Giorgio N said: The price paid was IMHO pretty good Indeed - while I don't have 3.9 Mio regrettably, this was the once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy my own model company. Perhaps we should've raised a crowdfunding project here on BM ?. 50k $ for the moulds is not much, though that only relates to anything still owned by Revell US (which may not be much...), everything owned by Bünde being included in the 800k for Hobbico Deutschland. After finalisation of the SPA, I'd first rename that entity... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Forgive my ignorance but does this mean that both Revells stay in the one ownership? Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 10 minutes ago, Max Headroom said: Forgive my ignorance but does this mean that both Revells stay in the one ownership? Trevor Revell US as a company (its shares) is not part of the deal, but its trade marks, domains and moulds (cf. Art. II 2.1 (a) of the APA). So it's yes and no - the empty coat of Revell US stays stays with Hobbico, what constitutes its business comes (mostly) to the buyers, along with GmbH. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 As soon as the private equity company has done some changes (more or less) and Revell returned to make profit they will sell it on with a nice price increase. The usual way with all pros and cons. But it is good news that they will stay on the market and I dearly hope that the invesor will find it is best to let Revell Germany do their job and just take care for the needed investments. I am sure this would be quite successful and Revell would be back on the market for a new investor in about three years. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 We could all help, by giving the model companies (not just Revell) a return on their investments, by buying their kits. If we don't buy the kits, the companies don't get the revenue to re-invest in new products. We need to stop bemoaning anything new; there's a really bad trend nowadays to put down any new offerings as "it will be too long/short; 'never flew in those colours', or 'it's missing a tiny vent here or there'. Even worse, are those who shout out "Don't buy this kit!" They need to understand that this only helps reduce the chance of new kits (investment) and they could be contributing to the demise of the LHS. So, let's all extol the values of those that endeavour to provide us with models for our hobby, let's buy the models, build them and, of course, display them on this forum. Mike 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 The great thing for the investor is it has bought apparently ca. 41 Mio $ in loans at 2.4 % face value. No idea how the loans are precisely structured, and whether the one to Hobbico Deutschland is recoverable - I think the one to Revell GmbH most recently ran to around 15 Mio €, and at the current state of affairs should be easily recoverable. I'd need to be more of a tax man, but the repayments on the loan may be favourable under tax aspects. I hope they do not drain the hell out of Revell... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 1 hour ago, bootneck said: We could all help, by giving the model companies (not just Revell) a return on their investments, by buying their kits. If we don't buy the kits, the companies don't get the revenue to re-invest in new products. We need to stop bemoaning anything new; there's a really bad trend nowadays to put down any new offerings as "it will be too long/short; 'never flew in those colours', or 'it's missing a tiny vent here or there'. Even worse, are those who shout out "Don't buy this kit!" They need to understand that this only helps reduce the chance of new kits (investment) and they could be contributing to the demise of the LHS. So, let's all extol the values of those that endeavour to provide us with models for our hobby, let's buy the models, build them and, of course, display them on this forum. Mike Agree and disagree at the same time. The size of my stash shows that I fully agree, I believe that buying kits is important for the economy and the financial health of the plastic modelling companies. Maybe less for my own financial health but that's another story... At the same time these companies have to offer me something I am happy with ! A modelling company is not a charity, it's there to make money and I'm fine with it. At the same time I'm not a charity, I am a modeller with my own set of requirements and if a kit does not satisfy my requirements then it stays in the shop. Revell or Airfix or any other will not give me a 50% discount just to make me happy, at the same time I'm not going to buy a kit just to make them happy, I buy a kit to make myself happy ! If the kit does not satisfy my requirements then it does not make me happy. Accuracy is one of my requirements, if the next Revell kit is not accurate as I like I'm not buying it. If it's a fiddly build I may still buy it if I like the subject, Others may have different requirements of course. In a capitalistic society it's the manufacturers that have to offer something that the customer want, those who succeed survive and those who don't succeed close down. Revell is not the only manufacturer in the world, if they give us good products they deserve our purchases, if they don't they deserve to see us going to buy someone's elses product 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 I mean this in a much more simplistic way. Producer make something but has to sell a certain amount just to break even, ie just to pay for their previous work. To make enough to be able to invest in a new build needs to sell more than the break even. More investment allows for better equipment, training and research to make the next model better; and so it goes on. Lack of sales means the producer could end up just rolling out old stuff, with the odd decal change, as there's no return on their previous outlay. Years ago (decades), I used to make 1:1200 scale ship models and sell a few. Compared to other producers, these were like blocks of wood and very low standard but they did sell. With that return on my sales I was able to invest in more accurate plans and so the quality improved. Again sales improved and then I was able to invest in a casting machine and better research material. The more people purchased, the better my models became due to their buying. That's all I am trying to say, if we publicly denounce every single element of a kit and tell people not to buy then this must have an impact on some producers ability to re-invest and improve. I won't buy a kit if it is really bad in accuracy but I cannot understand this rush to denounce new stuff before it has even reached the shops, or the apparent glee in finding the most minor discrepancy and shout it to the world. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 18 minutes ago, bootneck said: More investment allows for better equipment, training and research to make the next model better; and so it goes on. Lack of sales means the producer could end up just rolling out old stuff, with the odd decal change, as there's no return on their previous outlay. That's a somewhat idealistic view, probably because you were/are both enthusiast AND producer, and hence actually invested to improve. For a "real" commercial venture, it takes either a financial blow by the customers not buying the product, or some fundamental change like a new manager who is at least as much enthusiast as salesman. Remember Revell during much of the 80s and early 90s when they continued to roll out the same tire stuff again and again. Not sure what the trigger was (I don't think it was slackening sales), but something convinced Revell around the mid 90s that a fundamental improvement of their product was necessary, and they invested in high quality new tooling instead of what had gone before. In today's environment, it seems that cheap is king, especially if they can save money on the research/product development side. I'd take their recent Spitfires over two scales as an example, which appear to be - well, less than fortunate, and a distinct retrograde step in quality, as it seems. There's the old adage that it's not more expensive to design a correct and accurate kit than an inaccurate one, and I sympathise with that view to some extent, but on the other hand a "research" process consisting of a google and trawling airwar.ru (which is in no way meant to be negative to that site, but the info there is extremely variable in quality) is probably quick and cheap, but has a lot of hazards. And I fully agree with Giorgio: We do not live n a pocket money kit world any more. Most around here will be 45 and upwards, many of them with money to spend, and the kit prices in general have been steeply spiralling over the last decade. If someone wants a premium price, I demand a premium product. I am not prepared to spend 40 € or so on a kit for which I can get a 30 year old more accurate alternative for 10 € on ebay. Actually, I know a modeler who buys/bought just about every new kit and accessories, the more expensive the better, to only moan that it's unbuildable for this and that reason. The moaning is merely an excuse a) to not build anything and b) keep on buying new kits. He was in therapy for that, and the bank severely limited his credit card (no kidding). No idea if he is an isolated case, but I guess he is not. So possibly a lot of kits get sold regardless; it's much easier to justify not building something because it's "bad" instead of confessing to one self that the buy to build ratio is 100:1 or higher because one is a styrene junkie. Oh, and please be so kind not to ask how many unbuilt kits I have I buy them solely because I want to support European entrepreneurism... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 11 minutes ago, tempestfan said: a google and trawling airwar.ru That's a nice site, thanks for mentioning it as I'd not heard of it before. Anyone know of similar for ship plans, Merchant and Naval? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGER HOBBIESLIMITED Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Yes under the same roof but new owners in Germany Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony.t Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Viva Revell! Long may the blue & yellow logo continue. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roym Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) Just as long as these new owners don't turn out to be another "vulture fund". I had hopes of some of my wish list of subjects not yet kitted being turned into kits by Revell USA and Revell Germany, as they would fit in to the existing ranges and/or compliment them. Plus I like more Revell kits than I don't like. Edited April 13, 2018 by roym Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVoidDragon Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) I don't know too much about business things so can someone explain how these new owners are supposedly a good thing? From what I've read here, while it's obviously great that Revell will still exist, i don't see how a company that seemingly has no real interest in the actual thing they've bought could be good. Edited April 13, 2018 by TheVoidDragon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayprit Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Sound very much like asset strippers to me............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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