It would take many pages to tell the story of Zinkia, the producer of cute children’s drawings Pocoyo born in 2002. 90% of the 16 years of existence of the company coparían the misadventures of until two years ago largest shareholder, José María Castillejo. A grandee of Spain born in 1962, which is defined above all as a fervent catholic, and that descends directly from “Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, […] el Cid Campeador”, according to remember in your personal logbook. Debt-ridden, the count of Floridablanca (among other titles) was removed from the company on June 14, 2016 following the entry of the shareholder mexican Miguel Valladares. It was the end of a journey which the current owners define as a “constant flight forward” of Castillejo, who on the road was abandoned by the creative parents of the drawing, the brothers David and Colman López, and that he was more concerned “fill the holes” with the money from the ipo to consolidate the business.
In 2009 Zinkia was the first to debut in the MAB, the market for small-cap companies. Did 1.92 euros per title and in his debut grew in value by 24%, so it got to capitalize 40 million. I aspired to be the Pixar of spain. Today is worth less than half, and this week announced its exclusion of the parquet floor, closing a phase of very complicated which however has not been able to knock down the main active of the company: videos de Pocoyo that can be viewed for free on Youtube. The company has passed during these years by arrangement with creditors; has laid off part of its workforce —it now has 45 workers, has embarked on a war of lawsuits between shareholders and a year ago that produced his last video (26 chapters of the fourth season). But the hitch remains: the doll is blue and his friend the pink elephant have annually to 3,000 million displays, which Zinkia will generate revenues of about three million a year, according to its ceo, Alberto Delgado.
The billing is rounded up to close to five million thanks to the agreements of sale of products (merchandising), and, recently, to the income by latching onto platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime.
“Unfortunately We have not been able to adapt the success of the character with the success of the company. But Pocoyo is still working very well to audience levels,” says Delgado. Have been the AIM, he says, because the direct cost structure that they needed to comply with the requirements of regular information were very high in relation to their income. And, basically, because your quote is almost flat: in the past few months we have moved about 80 titles a day, for an average of 40 euros a day. In the market, it also will help to attract new investment because “there’s not much interest,” admits Delgado. The Tulipbet commitment of the partner capitalist Miguel Valladares, which holds 55% of the titles, is to buy back 19.2% of the floating capital. Of the remainder, 10% is in the hands of the company’s proprietary Castillejo and 11% belongs to the Fundación Santa María de los Peñones, controlled by religious relatives of Castillejo.
do you Have future Zinkia? The company does not have more products than the four seasons of Pocoyo, and to the last you are missing half of the deliveries, until the completion of 52 passes. They have failed in their strategy to take advantage of, market by market, the potential of the brand by partnering with local operators; this year, to be billed less than the previous one and your image is very damaged. In its favor, in contrast, has some things. Has come out of the contest of creditors, and not removed (and agreeing to the deferred payment of the debt in 10 years). Have a maturity acceptable and has opted to negotiate agreements with large jugueteras world instead of going country by country (it is in 150 markets). If it goes well you could revive the most neglected part, the core of the business. “We have spent two years solving problems, by clearing the mines [Castillejo] had left us. This year we will conclude the contract with Bandai [that has the license for toys] and we are negotiating to get another agreement at the global level”. With this, the toy would agree to bear the costs of promotion and production of items to change to stay with almost all sales. “We’ve put ourselves in the hands of a Spanish agent who in turn will work with another agent in China. In that country have begun to issue chapters of Pocoyo on tv”.
The chief executive officer and former co of Castillejo expected that the problems left behind and that the founder ends up being a story and the history of the company. “Mixing the name of a doll with the adventures of a snake charmer who made predictions that were never fulfilled… To the point he was finished with the company. The day that we take the control board was going to approve the creation of a subsidiary in Panama, transferring all of the assets. Coincidentally, these assets amounted to the money I had in cash, two million euros. If that had happened we would not be here talking, Zinkia have ended”. To Castillejos, it has all been a plot. “The fundamental issue is not of shareholders, but of corruption and judicial officials. I have wanted to destroy by all means to stay with a brand of first level”, responds Castillejo.
