It’s been quite quiet recently, but summer is now here and with it, the silly-season of take-overs and mergers, which inevitably means Asmodee are at it again.  Asmodee, (originally known as Siroz), started out as a small French game publishing and distribution company, specialising in the family market.  Their best-known product was probably Dobble, though there were others too.  In 2007, the investment firm, Montefiore acquired 60% of the company and invested €120 million to finance Asmodee’s international growth.  Their expansion history began a bit like this:

• Acquisition of Belgian game distributor Hodin (2008)
• Acquisition of Spanish games developer Cromola (2009)
• Acquisition of German producers Proludo (2009)
• Acquisition of 60% stake in UK-based distributor, Esdevium Games (2010)
• Acquisition of Abalone (2010)
• Partnership with Libellud (2010)
• Set-up of a subsidiary in Shanghai, China (2012)

Meanwhile, the Canadian F2Z Entertainment, the parent of company of Pretzel Games, also own Filosofia Éditions (who bought Z-Man Games in 2011) and bought the U.S. company Plaid Hat Games last year.  Then, in January 2014, the private equity company Eurazeo bought 83.5% of Asmodee and the mad expansion began all over again, but this time in earnest:

• • • Acquisition of Days of Wonder (2014)
    • Acquisition of Ystari Games (2014)
    • Acquisition of Asterion Press (2014)
    • Acquisition of Pearl Games (2014)
    • Acquisition of exclusive distribution rights to all Queen Games products (2015)
    • Acquisition of rights to the English versions of the Catan series of games (2016)

Last summer we speculated how long it would be before Asmodee turned their attention to F2Z Entertainment with their enticing range of games including Pandemic and  Carcassonne.  Well, last week, Asmodee announced that it has entered into exclusive discussions to acquire F2Z Entertainment with closure of the acquisition expected to take place in the coming months.  Who will be next, Rio Grande Games perhaps?

– Image from escapistmagazine.com