Thursday, September 27, 2007

Optimal Group snaps up WowWee for $65 million


It looks like WowWee's
growing robot army will soon have a new boss to answer to, as
Montreal-based Optimal Group announced today that it's agreed to
purchase the robot "toy" maker for $65 million. According to The
Canadian Press, Optimal says WowWee's management will remain as it is,
and there's no word of any other changes to the company. From the looks
of it, Optimal isn't an entirely obvious fit for WowWee, with it
beginning as a developer of retail self-checkout systems in 2004 before
shifting its focus to online payment processing, a business it's now
apparently considering selling. Under this new deal, Optimal will fork
over $55 million in cash, plus $10 million in shares for WowWee, which
has reportedly seen its earnings drop to just $5 million in 2006, down
from $27.5 mil in 2005.

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