Operation of the EMEA business will be led by Andy Oddie, who becomes md EMEA.
Pop culture licensing specialist Funko has confirmed the acquisition of Underground Toys Limited.
The two companies have had a close working relationship for a number of years.
In January 2014, Funko and Underground Toys Limited entered into a European distribution agreement, which saw the latter exclusively distribute Funko products, along with its own range of licensed merchandise, to a network of European retailers including Toys R Us, Tesco, ASDA, Carrefour and FNAC.
Funko’s operation of the EMEA business will be led by Andy Oddie, who becomes managing director EMEA.
Andy commented: “We have been Funko’s European distributor for some time now and are excited to join the world’s leader in pop culture licensing.
“Funko and Underground Toys Limited are a natural fit given our shared commitment to high-quality, stylized pop culture products and we see great opportunities to create compelling cross-category pop culture offerings by leveraging our combined skills and experience.”
Brian Mariotti, ceo of Funko, continued: “This transaction will expand upon our already successful relationship and fully unite Funko with the Underground Toys Limited team to support and advance our international growth strategy.
“We are excited to apply our unparalleled creative design and speed-to-market capabilities to drive continued growth in the business and position ourselves to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities ahead.”
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter.
