Children’s toy and entertainment company Spin Master – the largest of its kind in Canada – is throwing itself into the building category with the acquisition of 112-year-old construction toy brand Meccano (known as Erector Set in the US).

The purchase of Meccano comes the US construction toy category goes on a growth spurt.  Lego continues to dominate the sector, with its sales growing 26% to around US$4 billion last year.

Spin Master, for its part, has seen a nearly 20% growth YTD in 2013, and the company says it is also strategically focused on driving immersive extensions to many of its toy lines through creating more entertainment properties, companion apps, games and digital experiences, of which the new Meccano toys will be a part as well.

Meccano’s manufacturing base and industrial facilities located in Calais, France will remain in place in order to optimize serviceability to European markets.

Meanwhile, plans for more global growth are in the hands of the company’s global president and COO, Ben Gadbois, who joined the company last summer. Spin Master also added Krista DiBerardino as CMO and Bill Hess as EVP of operations and CIO in the second quarter of this year, following a corporate restricting in February  that resulted in company layoffs.