Mattel, Inc. (NasdaqGS:MAT) will seek mergers and acquisitions. During the company's third quarter 2022 earnings conference call, Anthony DiSilvestro, Chief Financial Officer, said that “I think the first comment to make is we continue to make really good progress in improving our balance sheet and our leverage ratio. We finished Third Quarter at 2.3x debt to adjusted EBITDA, and that's down from 2.8x in the prior year.

And if you recall our capital allocation priorities, the first one was to invest in organic growth, and the second was to get our leverage down and maintain a target range of 2 to 2.5x, and we've done that. And look, as we look at an investment-grade rating, it is an important milestone for Mattel. And with that stronger balance sheet, we will have the flexibility to consider other priorities such as M&A and share repurchases.

So we continue to make progress, and we continue with our dialogue with the rating agencies and continue to deliver against improving that balance sheet and reducing leverage”.