The French game manufacturer Rackham, creators of the Confrontation Collectible Miniatures Game (CMG), is planning a public stock offering to raise capital to allow it to compete successfully with market leaders such as Games Workshop (Warhammer), Privateer Press (Warmachine), WotC (Star Wars) and WizKids (Battletech, HeroClix). 

Founded in 1997 by Jean Bey and Raphael Guiton, who previously worked for Games Workshop in France and have attempted to apply the  the Games Workshop recipe to their own business, Rackham has created a considerable body of work including a backlist of some 950 superbly designed figures for its Confrontation game and the capability to produce 10 to 20 new figures per month.

Rackham plans to use the capital raised in its public offering to streamline its production, reorganize its logistics (with a system of bar codes) and launch new games starting in 2006 in an orderly and timely manner so as to avoid cannibalizing sales from its existing efforts.  Rackham also plans to expand its efforts to sell its games in foreign markets including the U.S. 

According to ICv2's Retailers Guide to Games Rackham's Confrontation CMG does not have 'great breadth in the States, but sells well for those who stock it.'  An American distributor interviewed for the most recent Games Guide told ICv2, 'Sales are still climbing on Rackham.' 

Rackham recently announced the publication of a backwards compatible, third edition, collected rulebook, Confrontation Compendium (MSRP $27.95), which the company will introduce at GenCon (see 'Rackham Plans New Rulebook').