Toymaker Jakks Pacific Inc. announced on Jan. 26 that it had received a takeover offer from Hong Kong-based Meisheng Cultural Co.

Jakks, headquartered in Santa Monica said that Meisheng expressed interest in acquiring additional common stock of the company at $2.95 a share. Meisheng already has an 18 percent stake in the company and if the deal goes through, it would increase its voting rights to 51 percent. Jakks stock closed at $2.60 on Jan. 25.

Meisheng Cultural Co. manufactures animation-themed apparel primarily in China.

“Meisheng has been a business partner of Jakks for more than a decade and made a strategic investment in Jakks in 2017,” Linda Bolton Weiser, senior analyst at Great Falls, Mont., financial firm D.A. Davidson Equity Capital Markets, wrote in a research note this morning.

“Meisheng believes Jakks is at a critical point in its growth trajectory and that furthering its strategic relationship with Jakks will provide incremental value to all shareholders,” she said.

Jakks has had a tough year. The company told its investors last year that it was expecting a net loss for 2017. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing by Toys R Us, which carries Jakks products, was a key reason.

Manufacturing and trade reporter Shwanika Narayan can be reached at [email protected] or 323-556-8351. Follow her on Twitter @shwanika.