MUMBAI: DQE has inked a licensing agreement for The Jungle Book with German licensee Universal Trends GmbH along with co-production partners ZDF Enterprises GmbH.
DQE has signed broadcasting, licensing and distribution agreements for The Jungle Book in more than 160 countries. DQE and ZDF enterprises have signed a three year agreement with Universal for licensing and merchandising across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As per the terms of the agreement, Universal will have the rights for the manufacture and sale of products such as figurines, puzzles, board games and outdoor toys including surprise bags, ‘gotchaballs’, key rings, fabric figures and outdoor games comprising of inflatables, sporting goods, beach toys and backpacks.
Universal has provided substantial minimum guarantee and the deal has been signed for an estimated revenue potential of over Euro 2.0 mn in the next three years starting from May/June 2011 based on 10% royalty to DQE.
Universal currently hold the rights to popular and iconic properties including Pokémon, Disney, High School Musical, Hannah Montana, Winnie the Pooh, Sponge Bob, Cars, Nintendo, Hello Kitty, Star Wars, Bakugan, Transformers, and has now added DQE’s ‘Jungle Book’ to their portfolio.
Key retailers in this region include TRU, Vedes and Müller. Universal was founded in 1945 as Universal Cards. Since 1994, "Universal cards" has been acting as a distributor for wholesale customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Amongst the clients of Universal are leading companies from the classic toy trade, the collectors’ market, corporate retail and wholesale trade.
DQE Group chairman and CEO Tapaas Chakravarti said, “The Jungle Book as a brand has drawn tremendous equity and global recognition and our licensing agreement with Universal is further testimony to this fact. We are delighted to have Universal represent ‘The Jungle Book’ in Germany, and are confident they will do justice to this brand for monetisation through an interesting lineup of products that will delight consumers. Universal has a proven track record and DQE are confident that we couldn’t have picked a better licensing partner for ‘The Jungle Book’ in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I hope this is the start of a long lasting and mutually beneficial collaboration for all the partners concerned. We have a number of similar agreements currently under negotiation which will provide us incremental and upstream revenues from further exploitation of our IP’s.”
ZDF Enterprises GmbH director merchandising, sales and co-productions Sylvia Brucker added, "We are very pleased to have inked this deal with Universal Trends. The company is a well-established and renowned partner in merchandising high-caliber brands. We are convinced that the worldwide popular characters of ‘The Jungle Book’ will come to new life in the creative merchandising ideas of Universal Trends."
