We have been speculating endlessly here on this forum about MTH taking control of Lionel, but it is more likely that Lionel will just buy MTH.
Look Lionel may have to pay $40 Mil or so in the settlement, so Well Springs figures we might as well get somethng for those dollars!. They might just say to MTH’s creditors here’s $50 Mil for your interest in MTH. With a controlling share of MTH , Well Springs gets MTH to just drop the lawsuit against Lionel or settles out for much much less. It has happended before, when smaller compaines get large awards from much bigger companies.
Assuming that the AntiTrust Division of the Justice Dept. Okays the purchase and the FTC has nothing to say about it too; that may be the best course for Lionel.
I doubt there is a snowball’s chance in heck that Mike Wolf, the sole owner of MTH as far as I know, would agree to sell the business he has spent the last 25 years+ building, to anyone, much less the owners of Lionel, some of whom he is reported to dislike with great passion. There are many folks in the hobby that believe his major goal since the early 1990s has been to humble Lionel and acquire the company name for his own use.
A couple of major MTH dealers told me that Mike Wolf isn’t the sole owner of MTH. Tony Lash has a heavy financial interest in MTH. The lawsuit will benefit them both.
Well, Tony has been asked publicly on many occasions whether he has a financial interest in MTH and to my knowledge, he has always denied that. The dealers’ comments may just represent unfounded rumor or urban legend that understandably developed because of the close friendship between the two men.
According to reliable sources, Tony is a major financial backer of Mike Wolf. He has a trash hauling route in Washington DC. He seems to have all of the MTH inside information.
