Hasbro May Be Trying to Purchase Coleco

Hasbro Inc. officials refused to comment Tuesday on published reports that the world’s biggest toy maker would buy most of Coleco Industries Inc. under a plan to be presented in bankruptcy court.

The Hartford Courant on Tuesday quoted sources close to Avon-based Coleco’s 10-month-old bankruptcy case as saying that details of the purchase were being negotiated.

Barry Alperin, executive vice president of Hasbro Inc., said representatives of both companies were forbidden to speak publicly about the case under an order issued last month by U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

A secretary for Coleco’s chairman, Morton Handel, said he would be away from his office all day but would not say where he could be reached.

Representatives of Hasbro, Coleco and Coleco’s creditors are scheduled to discuss the plan today before the bankruptcy court.

The deal, expected to be announced today, would strengthen Hasbro’s position in the toy business by adding to its product lines well-known Coleco items such as Cabbage Patch Kids and the board games Scrabble and Parcheesi.

Coleco grew into one of the nation’s largest toy makers over the past decade, propelled in large part by the popularity of its Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. Demand for the dolls dropped beginning in 1986 and Coleco was unsuccessful in introducing new products.