Breaking News: The Topps Company

It was just announced today that The Topps Company has agreed to be acquired by Michael Eisner's The Tornante Company (who invests in media & entertainment companies) and Madison Dearborn Partners (a Chicago-based Private Equity company) for $385.4 million. The transaction is still subject to approval from Topps' stockholders, regulatory approval and other conditions, but is expected to be completed in the 3rd quarter of this year.

I don't know about Topps' other business segments, but considering their baseball & basketball releases over the past several years, this isn't very surprising. Other than their Bowman brand, I feel like their products have really stumbled. Hopefully under their new ownership they'll be able to infuse a little more innovation into their product lines, and eliminate those that are underperforming or cannibalizing their other brands. Another area that they should work on is signing better exclusives with players. For basketball, Upper Deck definitely has the better stable of top players (i.e. Jordan, Kobe, Lebron, Dwight Howard,...).

Good luck Topps! You've definitely got your work cut out for you.