Hasbro logoHasbro is selling its manufacturing facilities in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and Waterford, Ireland to the Catamundi Group of Belgium. The two companies have signed a letter of intent and expect the deal to close by the end of September. Cartamundi plans to retain the approximately 500 manufacturing and distribution employees at both locations.

CartamundiWhile the move represents a significant divestiture for Hasbro, today’s joint announcement emphasized the company’s continued commitment to the games category:

The divestiture is in line with Hasbro’s mission of Creating the World’s Best Play Experiences and building larger more global brands. Hasbro will continue to invest resources in areas that will maximize the value of the company’s brands globally, including in design, development, storytelling, sales and marketing. The sale of these facilities will have no impact to Hasbro’s commitment to the Games category and the company will continue to invest in gaming.

Chris Van Doorslaer, CEO of Cartamundi, was quoted as saying:

Through this acquisition we will become the world market leader in the manufacturing of board games. Our expanded capabilities in board game manufacturing further our mission to create game products and experiences that connect families and friends of every generation. We welcome Hasbro’s highly dedicated and experienced work force to our team and we look forward to continuing to manufacture Hasbro games at East Longmeadow and Waterford while also adding volume from both our current and new global customers.

Cartamundi, which was established in 1970, currently employs 1,450 and had sales in 2014 of €199 million.