For almost six decades Hornby has watched Scalextric drive revenues for its hobby business but on Friday the company said it had decided to sell the famous slot car racing brand for £20m to a little known buyer.

The model railway company, which also sells toy planes and cars under the Airfix and Corgi brands, has sold the Scalextric business and intellectual property rights to Purbeck Capital Partners.

Kent-based Hornby, which experienced a hobby boom during the Covid pandemic, has owned Scalextric since 1968. Invented by Fred Francis, the very first Scalextric set was made in Hampshire in 1956.

On Friday, Hornby’s parent company, Castelnau, which also owns businesses including the funerals firm Dignity, said it was selling the car racing business to Purbeck Capital Partners.

Purbeck is run by Mark Brown, the former chief executive of Sazerac, the US-based spirits company that owns brands including Southern Comfort. The deal is the first investment by Brown’s family office.

Hornby, which dates back to 1901 and produced its first model train set in 1920, said the proceeds of the sale will be used to pay down debt and invest in its other brands.

The company said it will manage the Scalextric business as an agent and support it through its existing infrastructure.

In 2024, the Sports Direct founder, Mike Ashley, became a consultant to Hornby after his retail empire Frasers Group took an 8.9% stake in the business.

Last April, Hornby delisted from London’s junior stock market, Aim, ending almost four decades as a public company.

The company, which had been publicly listed since 1986, blamed the “regulatory burden and cost of maintaining the public quotation” and said delisting would save it about £400,000 a year.

Richard Brown, the chief executive of Castelnau, said: “Scalextric has made significant progress in recent years, and we are truly excited for its next phase.

“We look forward to working closely with him going forward on the wider transformation at Hornby. This transaction is consistent with Castelnau’s strategic intention to ensure that our businesses are owned and led by the best owners to deliver their full potential.”

As part of the deal, Mark Brown, who has set up Scalextric Motorsports to house the business, is to take a role helping Hornby with a longer-term strategic transformation to create a “series of entrepreneurial, profitable brands operating sustainably and independently, led autonomously from the centre”.

He hopes to develop the Scalextric business into new areas as an antidote to online pursuits.

“As we look to a long-term future, with Scalextric as a now family-owned company, we are energised by the opportunity to continue bringing competitive racing fun to families,” he said.

“While [also] expanding into new areas of motor sport and helping to build physical and hand-eye coordination skills, particularly at a time when families are trying to balance time spent online versus real world activities.”

Mark Brown grew up in the UK but has spent the last 46 years in the US, where he is permanently based. He spent a total of 37 years working for Sazerac in two stints separated by five years at Brown Forman. From 1997, when he returned to Sazerac, he was chief executive until stepping down in 2023.