Project Finance 2018

Wealth & Finance International - 2018 Project Finance Awards 11 The company has seen multiple growth in revenue and net earnings in the past five years. It launched a global merchandise program and fostered partnerships with corporate giants like Google and Red Bull. Most recently Rubik’s announced a worldwide cooperation with McDonald’s Happy Meal Campaign. The investment by Bancroft is to fuel an ambitious growth strategy utilising Rubik’s unparalleled global brand-recognition to focus on growth through new channels, products and markets. RBL and Bancroft have recruited a new CEO, Christoph Bettin, to help realise the great potential of the Rubik’s Brand. Security breaches come with a high price tag for UK businesses Rubik’s Brand Ltd (RBL), the London-based company that owns the rights to the world-famous Rubik’s Cube, has sold a minority stake to Bancroft Investment, a European Private Equity firm. RBL was established by the founding families of the original Rubik’s business in 2013 to focus exclusively on the Rubik’s Brand. Monika Lukacs, the partner leading the deal for Bancroft said, “This investment provides a unique opportunity to create value due to the strength of the Rubik’s brand, its multiple positive connotations and the several growth potentials that the company has successfully developed in the last five years.” Christoph Bettin founded the leading toy distributor Marbel Ltd which was sold to Hape Holdings AG in 2017 after 15 years. He started his educational journey at Oxford University in the world of Geology and Earth Science and then spent the majority of his career in finance at EY in London and then GE Capital in Munich, Hong Kong and the USA where he took on a two-year internal MBA and became European CFO of their largest business segment. Rubik’s Brand Ltd Partners with Bancroft Investment and Appoints Christoph Bettin as CEO Inventor Professor Ernő Rubik welcomes the Bancroft partnership and the new appointment. He said, “The Cube’s impact on the world and humanity is even more interesting to me than the puzzle itself. I am confident that the support of Bancroft and Christoph Bettin’s energetic leadership will expand the brand firmly into new areas including education, entertainment, or mind-sports.” David Kremer, the largest owner of RBL stated, “I am delighted with the recent and ongoing growth of this unique brand both within the toy industry and now increasingly into new business sectors. I fully expect the Bancroft support to accelerate that process.”