Italian group Artsana, the parent company of Chicco and Prénatal, has acquired Toys R Us Ibérica from a Portuguese fund.

The local competition authority, Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC) was notified of the deal on May 24th. According to the AdC, the purchase includes the acquisition of Toys R Us Ibérica, which includes the Spanish arm of the company and a Portuguese subsidiary, as part of the Prénatal Retail Group. Prénatal owns various brands of toys and clothes for children and sells children’s products through specialised stores, including Chicco stores, throughout Iberia.

Toys R Us has 11 physical stores operating in Portugal and Spain. According to the notification to AdC, Prénatal has acquired exclusive control over all retail stores as well as the company’s online retail offering.

After financial difficulties in the United States and the United Kingdom, which led to the closure of the company in those countries, Toys R Us Ibérica was bought in 2018 by the Green Swan fund, which invested nearly 80m euros in the company over four years.

The deal is currently the subject of scrutiny by the AdC, in order for it to be approved.