Kosmos takes full ownership of distribution arm Thames & Kosmos UK amid retirement of latter’s founding directors

Kosmos, the German publisher of board games including Catan and the Exit series, has taken full ownership of distribution arm Thames & Kosmos UK amid the retirement of the latter’s founding directors Stephen O’Connor and Joanna Drage.

O’Connor and Drage launched the business as Science Shop in 2009, with Kosmos making the company a subsidiary by buying an 80% stake four years later.

The deal makes T&K UK the German company’s first wholly-owned foreign subsidiary. Kosmos currently has another foreign branch in the USA, named Thames & Kosmos.

Kosmos said in a press release that the buyout of the UK operation was part of the company “consistently pursuing its internationalisation strategy and further expanding its international activities”.

It added that the British market remains “a key component” of Kosmos’ international growth strategy.

Emma Hanlon – T&K UK’s first employee who has been with the business 12 years – and Andrew Morris have taken over as managing directors of the subsidiary.

Kosmos managing director Thilan Tran said, “Stephen O’Connor and Joanna Drage built and successfully led Thames & Kosmos UK with entrepreneurial vision, high personal integrity, and great dedication.

“They have sustainably established the Kosmos brand in the United Kingdom and thus made a significant contribution to the international development of our company. We thank them very much for this achievement and the many years of trusting collaboration.”

Fellow Kosmos managing director Matthias Kienzle, who runs the company in a dual leadership role with Tran, added, “With the new ownership structure and the newly formed management team, we aim to further scale and continuously expand our international sales activities.

“Our focus is on further market penetration of existing product categories and the development of additional growth potential.”

Last year Heiko Windfelder, the Kosmos board game lead who played a key role building up brands including Catan and the Exit family of games, retired after 30 years at the company – making Tran and Kienzle joint leaders of the business.

Two years earlier long-time managing director Michael Fleissner retired, handing over operational management of the German company to Windfelder, Tran and Kienzle.

W Eric Martin from Board Game Beat reported last week that Kosmos’ board game releases this year are set to include Bernhard Weber design Temple Twist, and Happy Holiday by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J Gilbert.

Kosmos is also celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Exit series of games, which have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide across more than 50 titles.

New Exit releases this year will include a young children-focused Puzzle Fun in the Sea title and a Fourth Wing game based on the Empyrean novels by Rebecca Yarros, while the company will also be sending an armoured truck around Germany in which players can solve Exit puzzles.