In February, a significant shareholder of Hasbro asked the company to give Wizards of the Coast independence. Why? Money?
The investor, Alta Fox Capital, argued that Wizards was such a different animal from the rest of the company that it would be worth more (to buyers) as a separate thing.
You can read their argument at FreeTheWizards.com.
The Wall Street Journal this week revealed that Hasbro rejected those calls. Clearly, they didn’t rush to that decision.
You need a WSJ account but Mollie Russell at Wargamer has unpacked it wonderfully.
In essence, Hasbro didn’t agree. They said;
…is unlikely to create value, is contrary to Hasbro’s strategy, and would negatively impact the benefits Wizards realises today”.
It doesn’t stop there, though. Alta Fox had pushed to get their people on the Hasbro board. The finance company owns enough of Hasbro to ask. I imagine it gets political as putting your people into the decision-making level of Hasbro’s leadership makes it easier to get your way the next time there’s a decision to be made.
Hasbro has rejected all five proposed changes, considering only one in detail.
Creative Commons Ice-Wizard by Ainogommon.
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