Hornby adds model car maker Corgi to its collection

LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - Britain's Hornby Plc (HRN.L) agreed to buy model car maker Corgi for 7.5 million pounds ($14.8 million)in cash to add to its eponymous train sets, Scalextric racing cars and Airfix model aeroplanes.

Hornby said on Thursday it was buying Corgi Classics, one of the world's oldest makers of collectible die-cast models of trucks, buses, cars and aeroplanes from U.S.-listed Corgi International Ltd CRGI.O.

"We will focus on product innovation, improving the distribution network and driving sales growth both in the UK and internationally," Hornby Chief Executive Frank Martin said in a statement.

Corgi was established by the Mettoy Company in Northampton in the English midlands and first started to produce pressed metal toys in the 1930s.

The Corgi brand for die-cast models was born in 1956 and at its height was selling millions of toys a year, including models of the Batmobile, the Lotus John Player Special Formula 1 car and James Bond's Aston Martin DB5.

More recently, production was moved to lower-cost plants in Asia.

The deal is the latest attempt by Hornby to breathe new life into a declining brand, after it bought model plane maker Airfix and Humbrol paints in 2006.

Hornby said it expected the deal, which will be funded from existing bank facilities, to be earnings neutral for the current financial year. (Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by David Holmes)