Not anything will trade for Ravensburger staff after the Steiff takeover. CEO Clemens Mayer made that transparent in a letter to the toymaker’s body of workers. “For now, everything remains as it is,” Mayer wrote on an intranet made to be had to the German information company. Ravensburger introduced on Wednesday that it is going to take a 60 p.c stake within the plush toy maker. Steiff will proceed to be controlled independently on the corporate’s headquarters in Giengen an der Brenz.
Information
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The chief wrote that there are lately no adjustments within the buildings and duties deliberate for the workers. Participation does now not create an extra burden. Alternatively, Maier left open whether or not this may increasingly stay the case sooner or later: “In the medium term, we will examine whether and where reasonable opportunities for cooperation arise.”
Mayer: We are not making sufficient cash
On the similar time, Maier was once internally extra essential of the location in Ravensburger than was once prior to now identified to the general public – and right away gave an evidence of ways this sort of massive acquisition suits into the industrial state of affairs in Higher Swabia. “We have a revenue problem, not a liquidity problem,” the 55-year-old wrote. “That means we have enough financial resources and reserves, but we’re not making enough operating cash from our business. We’re working on that as a high priority.”
Consistent with Maier, the restructuring program already underway is the most important step in opposition to making Ravensburger sustainably successful once more and thus aggressive and a success in the long run. We’re following 3 primary instructions: “We want to improve our cost structure, make our business more scalable and strengthen our growth.”
The funding in Steiff due to this fact serves a 3rd goal. This must reinforce the gross sales base. After cautious attention, the verdict was once made to profit from this particular alternative – and to put money into a successful corporate with probably the most famend and standard manufacturers on the planet of toys. “This is possible because Ravensburger has done well in recent years,” Mayer writes. The chief is the great-grandson of Otto Mayer, who based the sport writer in 1883.
Gross sales have lately declined
Ravensburger reported a drop in gross sales for 2025 – from a report 790 million euros in 2024 to 742 million euros. This was once basically because of the waning of hype surrounding the Disney Lorcan card recreation. The core industry of video games, puzzles and books higher – however now not sufficient to offset the decline in gross sales. Historically, Ravensburger does now not remark at the end result.
Ravensburger additionally reported rising price force alongside all the price chain. That is why the crowd desires to paintings on buildings and prices. This could also be related to process cuts within the decrease double-digit vary. Not too long ago, the corporate hired a just right 2,500 folks, in Ravensburg itself and the manufacturing facility within the Czech Republic.
Two conventional firms are intertwining
Ravensburger and Steiff are some of the most famed toy manufacturers in Germany. Ravensburger produced such classics as “Memories,” “The Crazy Labyrinth,” and “Scotland Yard.” The “Tiptoi” studying device and the “GraviTrak” marble observe may also be discovered in lots of youngsters’s rooms nowadays. The crowd additionally comprises manufacturers similar to Brio, identified for its picket trains, and enjoying card writer FX Schmidt. Steiff is regarded as the inventor of the teddy endure and has been presenting high quality plush toys since 1880 – recognizable by way of the button within the ear.
With the sale, funding corporate Steiff, held by way of the heirs of founder Margarete Steiff, desires to set a direction for the corporate’s long-term standpoint. “It was crucial for us to place Steiff in responsible, entrepreneurial hands who understand and respect the brand, values and history,” stated CEO Frederik Reimann. The corporate additionally hopes for larger luck within the world marketplace.
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