Under the terms of the agreement, Egmont has the right to manufacture and distribute German language books in a variety of different formats – such as character books, friendship books, school diaries, pop-up books, comic books, painting books, and poster books. Egmont has been granted publishing rights for The Jungle Book in German speaking Europe. DQE will receive a royalty on sales through this deal from Egmont, in addition to a substantial upfront payment as a minimum guaranteed amount
DQE is has also concluded a non-exclusive licensing deal for The Jungle Book with Belltex (Belgium). Under the terms of the agreement Belltex SA, Belgium has been authorised to manufacture and distribute bed linen and other similar products based on the The Jungle Book character license. Belltex has been provided the rights for retailing the products in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
DQE had earlier signed a deal with Belltex for The Jungle Book for the region of France and Benelux.
DQE Group Chairman & CEO Tapaas Chakravarti said, “Egmont has a great track record and penetration in the German speaking European markets and we believe that we have made the right choice in partnering with Egmont for Jungle Book publishing. This is the beginning of a new and strategic relationship and we look forward to our continued association with them.”
Chakravarti added, “This is our second deal with Belltex, this time for Germany, Austria and Switzerland for bed linen. We are sure The Jungle Book franchise will prove to be very successful and beneficial to all our partners.”
ZDF Enterprises project manager merchandising, sales and co-productions Oliver Grundel said, “We are delighted to join forces with Belltex, one of the leaders in the field of home textiles. Belltex’s outstanding market position and professionalism fit ideally into our overarching strategic structure of strong partnerships for optimum sales of a classical, superior property such as ‘The Jungle Book”
He further added, “We are pleased to have found in Egmont a high-caliber partner of long standing for the exploitation of the ‘Jungle Book’ rights. The Egmont publishing house has been synonymous with successful and beloved children’s and teen books for decades now. Thanks to this agreement with Egmont, we have laid down the groundwork for the transfer of the ‘Jungle Book’ brand’s enormous potential to the publishing sector.”
ZDF Enterprises director Merchandising Sylvia Brucker said, “As an intermediary between a top-of-the-line animation producer from India and an internationally active and highly experienced publishing group, we are happy to be able to promote a project that stands out for its modern, appealing treatment of a timeless classic of children’s literature. We are confident that the market is always ready to give a positive, profitable reception to compelling products on classical topics.”
“The books based on the TV series The Jungle Book will play a major role in the portfolio of our children’s book label SchneiderBuch,” said EGMONT publishing group CEO Volker Busch. “SchneiderBuch traditionally stands for premium, entertaining books for children and youths. Our readers particularly love our sensitively rendered publications based on films and TV series. As a classic of world literature, ‘The Jungle Book’ is clearly a major new addition to our publishing program. The fact that it is currently being brought to life again in a brand-new CGI-animated TV series is a major asset for SchneiderBuch. This production highlight is exactly the accent we need, as we are in the process of adapting our much-admired, high-quality traditional children’s book program to make it even more appealing to new and future generations of children. We are delighted to be entering into this partnership with ZDF and DQ Entertainment!”
