This morning it was announced that Embracer Group will be separating into three separate entities. Among these three entities is Asmodee Group, the largest board publisher in the world. As a result of this separation, the company will be saddled with €900 million in debt. Which may affect their announced and unannounced projects.
The Asmodee Group €900 million Debt
According to an official press release, the Asmodee Publishing debt is a part of the separation of the main Embracer Group. The €900 million debt is part of the company restructuring and debt refinancing. This financing amounts to a ringfenced loan of €900 million with no recourse to Embracer, secured by Asmodee assets.
Generally, the loan will be used to refinance areas of Embracer Group as they undergo restructuring into three different companies within the next twelve months: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends respectively.
Overall, this means that once Asmodee Group is fully set-up, they will need to repay this €900 million loan. Furthermore, the loan has a maturity date of up to 18 months. What this means is major financial decisions will need to be made by those in charge, which may include canceling or scaling back projects they announced when part of Embracer Group.
While major licensed projects like Star Wars: Shatterpoint, and Star Wars: Unlimited may be safe, there's a fair chance certain product lines may be discontinued like some licensed Netflix board games or certain distribution deals may not be renewed to save money.
A good example is Edge Studio. Asmodee's RPG studio has been producing TTRPG adaptations of Twilight Imperium as well as 5e conversions of Legend of the Five Rings and Midnight: Legacy of Darkness. There's a solid chance turning beloved board games into RPGs may be more trouble than its worth if Asmodee is watching its bottom line.
