PR92416

TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-- Investments will advance the Company's strategy and assist start-ups and

entrepreneurs in the children's entertainment space

Spin Master Corp. ("Spin Master" or "the Company")  announced today the

creation of Spin Master Ventures ("SMV"). SMV's focus is to accelerate growth

in each of the Company's three creative centres comprising Toys, Entertainment

and Digital Games, through strategic minority investments. SMV's investment

mandate will be centred on medium and long-term trends including emerging

technologies, pioneering services and other areas where Spin Master's offering

can be strengthened.

Logo -

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1663084/Spin_Master_Spin_Master_Establishes_Spin_Master_Ventures_to_Acce.jpg

"We've always stayed true to our entrepreneurial DNA based on innovation,

openness to ideas, partnerships and pushing boundaries," said Ronnen Harary,

Spin Master's Co-Founder and Board Chair. "The pace of innovation within the

toys, entertainment and digital games industries is accelerating rapidly and by

investing with a long-term view in leading ventures with promising ideas, we

can increase our access to potentially game-changing thinking and concepts.

Spin Master Ventures will establish us as the partner of choice for

entrepreneurs looking for capital to start and grow a business in the kids'

space and will complement our acquisition strategy as well as bolster our

product development pipeline."

SMV will be led by experienced industry veterans, with a deep focus by creative

centre. Spin Master will initially allocate $100 million to SMV, funded from

existing internal resources. SMV's strategy will comprise minority investments

and will include both early-stage companies, with investments in new teams and

novel ideas, as well as providing growth capital to emerging business that have

proven product and market fit. SMV's geographic focus will be global but will

be North American and Europe-centric initially.

To launch the initiative, SMV has made minority investments in two companies

aligned with Spin Master's growth plans within the Digital Games creative

centre. Nordlight, a mobile game development company based in Stockholm is

comprised of a five-person team with over 50 years of experience in the mobile

games industry. Nordlight's team have delivered some of the largest grossing

mobile digital games in history including running the prototype team at

King.com and leading the technology and art for digital games titles including

Candy Crush Saga. Nordlight will help accelerate Spin Master's strategy of

monetizing its owned IP in the digital games space.

The second investment is in Hoot Reading, an online tutoring service that

provides children with live, 1:1 reading lessons with experienced teachers. The

research-based service connects kids with real classroom teachers to advance

their reading skills through a video chat platform that allows for real-time

on-screen collaboration between the child and teacher. The company is

headquartered in Canada and has teachers and students throughout North America.

Using personalized and engaging lessons and a carefully curated library of more

than 2,000 high-quality levelled texts, Hoot Reading aims to help as many kids

as possible to become not only proficient, but excellent readers.

"Establishing Spin Master Ventures enables Spin Master to work with

extraordinary companies and teams, providing them with capital and access to

our deep knowledge and expertise to drive their ideas and businesses forward,"

added Anton Rabie, Spin Master's Co-Founder and Director. "Spin Master Ventures

aims to become the ultimate partnership generator, a tool for widening the

Company's networks, knowledge and relationships. By partnering with these

entrepreneurs, we can bolster our leadership position within the children's

entertainment industry."

About Spin Master

Spin Master Corp. (TSX:TOY) is a leading global children's entertainment

company creating exceptional play experiences through a diverse portfolio of

innovative toys, entertainment franchises and digital games. Spin Master is

best known for award-winning brands PAW Patrol(R), Bakugan(R), Kinetic Sand(R),

Air Hogs(R), Hatchimals(R), Rubik's Cube(R) and GUND(R), and is the toy

licensee for other popular properties. Spin Master Entertainment creates and

produces compelling multiplatform content, stories and endearing characters

through its in-house studio and partnerships with outside creators, including

the preschool success PAW Patrol and nine other original shows along with

multiple short-form series, which are distributed in more than 190 countries.

The Company has an established digital games presence anchored by the Toca

Boca(R) and Sago Mini(R) brands. With close to 2,000 employees in 28 offices

globally, Spin Master distributes products in more than 100 countries. For more

information visit spinmaster.com or follow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

@spinmaster.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this

press release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of

certain securities laws, including the Securities Act (Ontario), and are based

on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date on which the

statements are made in this press release. The words "plans", "expects",

"projected", "estimated", "forecasts", "anticipates", "indicative", "intend",

"guidance", "outlook", "potential", "prospects", "seek", "strategy", "targets"

or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that

certain future conditions, actions, events or results "will", "may", "could",

"would", "should", "might" or "can", or negative versions thereof, "be taken",

"occur", "continue" or "be achieved", and other similar expressions, identify

statements containing forward-looking information. Statements of

forward-looking information in this press release include, without limitation,

statements with respect to: the initial and further investments in SMV, the

expected source of funding thereof and results therefrom; SMV's intended

investment mandate and geographic focus; the Company's acquisition strategy;

SMV leadership; and the anticipated impact of the acquisitions of Nordlight and

Hoot Reading.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon management's perceptions

of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as

well as a number of specific factors and assumptions that, while considered

reasonable by management as of the date on which the statements are made in

this press release, are inherently subject to significant business, economic

and competitive uncertainties and contingencies which could result in the

forward-looking statements ultimately being incorrect. In addition to any

factors and assumptions set forth above in this press release, the material

factors and assumptions used to develop the forward-looking information

include, but are not limited to: the Company's investments in SMV will produce

the expected results; internal cash flow will be sufficient to fund the

Company's initial investment in SMV; the availability of investment prospects

for SMV that fits its intended mandate and geographic focus; ability of

factories to manufacture products, including labour size and allocation,

tooling, raw material and component availability, ability to shift between

product mix, and customer acceptance of delayed delivery dates; that the

program designed to gain operational efficiencies will achieve the desired

results; that the steps taken will create long term shareholder value; the

expanded use of advanced technology, robotics and innovation the Company

applies to its products will have a level of success consistent with its past

experiences; the Company will continue to successfully secure broader licenses

from third parties for major entertainment properties consistent with past

practices; the expansion of sales and marketing offices in new markets will

increase the sales of products in that territory; the Company will be able to

successfully identify and integrate strategic acquisition opportunities; the

Company will be able to maintain its distribution capabilities; the Company

will be able to leverage its global platform to grow sales from acquired

brands; the Company will be able to recognize and capitalize on opportunities

earlier than its competitors;  the Company will be able to continue to build

and maintain strong, collaborative relationships; the Company will maintain its

status as a preferred collaborator; the culture and business structure of the

Company will support its growth; the current business strategies of the Company

will continue to be desirable on an international platform; the Company will be

able to expand its portfolio of owned branded intellectual property and

successfully license it to third parties; use of advanced technology and

robotics in the Company's products will expand; access of entertainment content

on mobile platforms will expand; fragmentation of the market will continue to

create acquisition opportunities; the Company will be able to maintain its

relationships with its employees, suppliers and retailers; the Company will

continue to attract qualified personnel to support its development

requirements; and the Company's key personnel will continue to be involved in

the Company products and entertainment properties will be launched as scheduled

and that the risk factors noted in this press release, collectively, do not

have a material impact on the Company.

By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to inherent risks and

uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the

possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or

conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct

and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. Known

and unknown risk factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company,

could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking

information in this press release. Such risks and uncertainties include,

without limitation, the magnitude and length of economic disruption as a result

of the COVID-19 pandemic; risks related to acquisitions not producing expected

results; and the factors discussed in the Company's disclosure materials,

including the Company's annual and most recent interim Management's Discussion

and Analysis, and the Company's most recent Annual Information Form, filed with

the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available under the

Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). These risk factors are not intended

to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect the Company and

investors are cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and

potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking

statements.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be

accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from

those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are provided

for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and

plans relating to the future. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation

to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new

information, future events or otherwise, or to explain any material difference

between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to

the extent required by applicable law.

More information on Spin Master Ventures can be found at

www.spinmasterventures.com or ventures @spinmaster.com; Media Contact: Tammy

Smitham, VP Communications and Corporate Citizenship,

mediarelations@spinmaster.com; Investor Contact: Sophia Bisoukis, VP Financial

Reporting and Investor Relations, sophiab@spinmaster.com

SOURCE: Spin Master Ltd. (Marketing)