HABA signs distribution deal with Asmodee France, a year after shuttering its French operation amid financial woes
Veteran German toy and game maker HABA has signed a deal with Asmodee to distribute its games in France, a year after shutting down its own French arm as part of a plan to save the financially-troubled business.
HABA went into self-administration in September 2023 after seeing its sales fall heavily in the volatile post-Covid environment. The company’s financial difficulties had been compounded by its expansion into other business areas, such as educational furniture through its HABA Pro brand and children’s clothing via its Jako-o arm.
A month later the company revealed it planned to cut up to 40% of its 1,677-strong workforce as part of a “comprehensive restructuring”, and refocus back on its wooden toy roots.
HABA exited insolvency proceedings in March last year having “worked intensively on a clear brand positioning, viable cost structures and a sustainable internal and external positioning of the company”, Martin Mucha, a restructuring expert hired by HABA, said at the time. It closed its HABA France operation the same month.
The company began life as a wooden toy maker in 1938, and later expanded into offering board games such as Rhino Hero, Animal on Animal and Monza in its distinctive yellow boxes.
It said popular HABA classics such as Monza and My First Orchard will be available via Asmodee in France from March, with new titles and exclusive novelties added throughout the year.
HABA director Steffen Müller said, “France is an important market for us. By teaming up with Asmodee, we will boost our visibility and reach new audiences.
“We are confident that this partnership will fuel our joint success.”
Asmodee France’s director of distribution, Corinne Derudder, added, “We are thrilled to have HABA as a strong partner.
“They stand for innovative and high-quality board games. With our proven sales and market knowledge in France, we will capitalize on the significant growth potential.”
Despite Asmodee’s huge push internationally in the past decade, France remains the company’s biggest market in terms of net sales at 19% – representing about €242m in the 2023/24 financial year.
Asmodee is easily the biggest player in the French tabletop games industry, with a roughly 40% market share – a share that has increase from about 30% since 2020, data released by the company ahead of its listing on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange this month showed.
That compares to Asmodee’s 13% share in Germany, where it is still ranked at #2 behind Ravensburger, and its 6% market share in the US, where it ranks third behind Hasbro and Mattel – although that figure is up from about 2% since 2020.
Last week BoardGameWire reported that Asmodee had acknowledged that its business model exhibits a “concentration risk”, with more than half of its €1.2bn in annual net sales coming from just five product lines.
Two of Asmodee’s top five product ranges are trading card game titans Magic: The Gathering and the Pokemon TCG, which it distributes to retailers on behalf of Hasbro and The Pokemon Company respectively.
The remaining three top lines are from Asmodee’s own studios, through its games and products based on Ticket to Ride, Exploding Kittens and Dobble/Spot-it!
