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The world's largest toy maker, Mattel, said it agreed to acquire the second-largest consumer software publisher, The Learning Company, for $33 a share in stock, or a total of $3.8 billion.
The combined forces form a children's software and toy-making titan. Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels, and Fisher- Price toys, said the merger transforms Mattel from "traditional toy company to a global children's product company," said Jill Barad, Mattel chief executive officer.
In June, The Learning Company acquired rival Broderbund Software, the makers of Myst, for about $420 million in stock.
"Interactivity...