Smurfs Caught Short as Jakks Toy Bid Seen for 20% Less: Real M&A

Jakks Pacific Inc., which rejected the cheapest offer for a toy company on record, may now have to accept an even lower bid after the maker of Hello Kitty, Pokemon and Smurfs character goods cut its sales forecast.

Jakks, which received an unsolicited offer of $20 a share from Oaktree Capital Management LP in September, turned it down three weeks later and said the buyout firm was trying to “take advantage” of adverse economic conditions to acquire the company on the cheap. The bid valued Jakks at 0.52 times its revenue, less than half the median for toy takeovers over $100 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.