Juratoys is strengthening its product range and positioning on the 0-6 year-old segment.
Orgelet and Paris (France), Saintes (Belgium), 15 October 2020 – The Juratoys group, one of the French leaders in the design and distribution of educational toys and games, has acquired the Belgian brand Lilliputiens, specialised in activity toys for children 0-6 years old. The Argos Wityu investment fund has supported Juratoys since 2018.
Lilliputiens is a Belgian company founded in 1995 and specialised since then in activity and early learning toys for 0-6 year-olds. Its high-quality products are easily recognisable by their sparkling design and their colourful, endearing characters. The brand’s strength derives from its values of creativity, innovation and personal development through play in the early years of childhood. Lilliputiens offers a wide range of more than 400 products, principally soft toys, books, schoolbags and backpacks, sold in numerous countries through a selective distribution network. The company has 30 employees and generates annual turnover of more than €12 million.
With this acquisition, the Juratoys group has built up its product range and strengthened its position in the 0-6 year-old segment with a brand that has a strong identity and international reach. Lilliputiens will take advantage of Juratoys’s extensive distribution network. The acquisition boosts Juratoys’s annual sales to nearly €70 million and its staff to 170 people.
Ludovic Martin, CEO of Juratoys said: “This merger is in line with our company’s business development strategy. Through it, we are also sending a strong signal to our employees and all of our partners. We are very pleased to work with Catherine Van Crombrugge and the rest of the Lilliputiens team, whose skills dovetail with our innovation-focused business. We share the same ambitions and the same values: design, child development through play, sharing, fun and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).”
Catherine Van Crombrugge, CEO of Lilliputiens, added: “The Lilliputiens team and I are thrilled to join a company acclaimed for its products and that shares our values of creativity, quality and respect for the customer and the environment. We have recognised expertise, dedication to Belgian design and a true passion for innovation. Merging with Juratoys will give us additional resources for marketing, enable us to step up our digital efforts and give us access to a robust international network.”
Gilles Lorang, Partner at Argos Wityu concluded: “For the past two years, we have supported Ludovic Martin and his team in developing their company. The merger of Lilliputiens and Juratoys plays right into the group’s consolidation strategy, which is to offer Juratoys’s customers a comprehensive range of products. Together, the two companies will also continue to move forward in their environmental and societal commitments.
Argos Wityu Team: Gilles Lorang, Mario Giannattasio et Pierre Cassignol
List of advisors
Buyer’s advisors
Legal: McDermott Will & Emery (Bertrand Delafaye, Louis Leroy, Charline Boulenger) – Loyens & Loeff (Grégoire Jakhian ; Wim Vande Velde ; Melanie Schollaert)
Financial: Eight Advisory (Philippe Fimmers, Olivier van Nes)
Tax: Arteo Law (Steven Peeters, Noémie Moortgat) Arsene Taxand (Franck Chaminade, Valentine Roulin)
Seller’s advisors
Ernst & Young (Guy Goossens, Tom Swinnen, Adrien Faelli)
Argos Wityu
Coralie Cornet
Head of Communications
ccc@argos.fund
+33 6 14 38 33 37
About Argos Wityu / www.argos.wityu.fund
Argos Wityu is an independent European investment fund that supports companies in the transfer of business ownership. It has assisted more than 80 entrepreneurs, focusing its investment strategy on complex transactions with emphasis on transformation, growth, and close collaboration with management teams. Argos Wityu seeks to acquire majority interests and invest between €10m and €100m with each transaction. With more than €1bn under management and 30 years of experience, Argos Wityu operates from offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Luxembourg, Milan and Paris.
About Juratoys
Juratoys has been designing and distributing toys and games for 50 years. Its Janod and Kaloo brands, acquired in 2011, and Lilliputiens, acquired in 2020, are recognised for their design, the quality of their materials and their educational values, which contribute to early childhood development and learning. The company is also the exclusive distributor in France and Belgium of certain international toy brands, such as Ty. Juratoys manages more than 1,400 products under its three proprietary brands and places great emphasis on innovation, designing more than 250 new products every year. The company is present in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and China. Juratoys has 170 employees and generates annual sales of €70 million.
