Toys R Us turns down buyout offer from Bratz CEO for being too low

By Danette Chavez  |  April 19, 2018 | 3:55pm
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It’s been a rough couple of months for Toys R Us. After filing for bankruptcy in late 2017, the toy retailer and refuge for those who don’t want to grow up announced it would close one-fifth of its U.S. locations, a number that ballooned to all 735 shops just last month. The liquidation plans aren’t the only ones Toys R Us has mulled over—apparently, the company has received multiple buyout bids that have fallen through for one reason or another. A failed bid prompted the complete shutdown of all Stateside locations, but despite those dire straits, CNN reports Toys R Us has turned down an offer from Bratz CEO Isaac Larian.

Larian offered $675 million to buy out 200 of the embattled toy company’s U.S. stores, as well as most of the 80 Canadian locations. His plans for Toys R Us, which may very well be scrapped now, are to turn the stores “into entertainment hotspots,” according to CNN. “We will make Toys R Us an experience in and of itself; a fun and engaging place where families can spend an entire day,” Larian said in a statement issued last week. “Imagine a mini-Disneyland in each neighborhood.” But, grandiose intentions aside, CNN’s sources say Toys R Us rejected the offer for being too low.

On Tuesday, Larian told the news outlet he wasn’t aware of being turned down, but “if this is true, it is very disappointing,” which is a decidedly mature thing for the head of a company that makes something called Bratz dolls. Larian was preparing to put up some of his own money in that $675-million bid, after his crowdfunding campaign failed to raise a billion dollars.

 
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