Last checked at 28 Sep 2010 07:00
Issued by Citigate Dewe Rogerson Ltd, Birmingham
Date: Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Embargoed: 7.00am
The Character Group plc
Character Options picks up
Master Toy License for 'Bob the Builder'
in UK and Eire
28 September 2010, London: At today's Brand Licensing Show HIT Entertainment ('HIT'), one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights owners, will announce the appointment of Character Options as the UK and Eire master toy licensee for 'Bob the Builder', one of its most successful and popular pre-school brands.
Under the multi-year agreement, Character Options, (the principal trading subsidiary of The Character Group plc) obtains the rights to develop all new toy products based on 'Bob the Builder' and his 'can do' crew and will be launching new ranges across vehicles, figurines, plush and role play. The first line of products will be available at retail for the Autumn/Winter season 2011.
Richard King, Executive Chairman, Character Group said:
"We are delighted to be working in partnership with HIT Entertainment team on another one of their top brands. 'Bob the Builder' is one of pre-school's most loved brands and we believe that we can create innovative and exciting products that will add value to this brand for many years to come."
Jon Diver, Joint Managing Director of The Character Group plc, added:
"'Bob the Builder' is one of HIT Entertainment's most successful brands and has enjoyed incredible success over its eleven years. We are very excited about the new computer generated ('CG') animated television series and believe that Character's focus on developing good quality, attractively priced toys can only benefit the brand further in the future."
Commenting on the partnership, Jon Owen, Senior Vice President HIT Brands - Global, says:
"We are delighted to sign this multi-year licensing agreement with Character Options for 'Bob the Builder', which follows the fantastic successes Character Options has delivered over the past year for Fireman Sam. The company never fails to astound us with their creative, innovative ranges and so we very much look forward to seeing the newly developed lines."
| Enquiries: |
|
| Richard King, Chairman |
|
| Kiran Shah, Group Finance Director & Joint MD | Fiona Tooley |
| The Character Group plc | Citigate Dewe Rogerson |
| Tel: +44 (0)208 329 3377 | Tel: +44 (0)121 362 4035 |
| www.thecharacter.com | Mobile: +44 (0)7785 703523 |
| Ticker: AIM: CCT
|
|
| Russell Cook |
|
| Carl Holmes |
|
| Charles Stanley Securities |
|
| (Nominated Adviser) |
|
| Tel: +44 (0)207 149 6000 |
|
Editors Notes
About Character Group
The Company designs, develops, licenses and distributes children's toys both in the UK and Eire and internationally. Currently, the Character Group is stated to be the fourth largest toy distributor in the UK behind only Mattel, Hasbro and Lego in terms of UK sales.
For more information:
visit www.thecharacter.com
email: info@charactergroup.plc.uk
About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment's Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™, Timmy Time™ and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations. HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT's lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS SproutSM. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.