Fisher-Price signs licensing deal for HIT's Thomas
CHICAGO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Mattel Inc's MAT.N Fisher-Price brand signed a multi-year deal as the global toy licensee for HIT Entertainment's Thomas & Friends train product line in a move to boost sales globally, the companies said on Monday.
Financial terms of the deal, which covers multiple territories around the world, were not disclosed. The first products will be available in 2010, when the Thomas line celebrates its 65th anniversary, and offerings will expand as existing licensees' rights expire, the companies said.
"Aligning one of the world's most successful and preeminent preschool brands with the world's largest toy company is ... a natural evolution," HIT Entertainment Chief Executive Jeff Dunn said in a statement.
HIT Entertainment, owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners, has a portfolio that includes such properties as Barney, Bob the Builder and Angelina Ballerina.
Fisher-Price, which makes products for young children, has been granted the global rights for Thomas, excluding Japan, on vehicles, figures and play-sets; preschool toys; plush, games, puzzles and water toys; and battery-powered ride-ons, the companies said. The deal also covers plastic pedal trikes, but only in North and South America and Asia.
The deal does not include the Thomas wooden track system rights, which remain with RC2 Corp (RCRC.O).
Shares of RC2, which was hurt in 2007 by recalls of lead-tainted Thomas products, were off 16.1 percent, or $1.73, at $9.00 in late morning trading on the Nasdaq, while top U.S. toymaker Mattel's stock was off 15 cents at $16.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Ben Klayman, editing by Matthew Lewis)
