With Mental Health Awareness Month right around the corner, the Finnish mental health brand, CupOfTherapy, has appointed family-owned manufacturer Jerry Leigh as their official apparel partner in the US. The deal was a joint collaboration between CupofTherapy’s North American agent, FanGirl Consulting and Brand Management and Mix Licensing Group.
Fred Rogers Productions, the award-winning children’s educational media organization behind Emmy-winning PBS KIDS series, including Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, has partnered with Warner Music Group’s Arts Music division to release the music from Donkey Hodie, the hit preschool series on PBS KIDS. The series is inspired by the funny, quirky side of children’s television pioneer Fred Rogers and showcases reimagined music and characters from the beloved Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Series music director, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning composer Bill Sherman (In the Heights, Hamilton, Sesame Street), produced the album.
Summer Infant, Inc, doing business as SUMR Brands (“SUMR Brands” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SUMR), a leader in premium infant and juvenile products, has announced that it and Kids2, Inc (“Kids2”), a global company that designs solutions to help early-stage parents and families, have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Kids2 will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common stock of the Company for cash. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company’s stockholders will receive $12.00 in cash for each share of Company common stock that they own, implying a 41.2% premium to the closing price of the Company’s common stock on March 15, 2022. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Company’s Board of Directors, and Wynnefield Capital and Jason Macari, significant stockholders of the Company, have signed voting agreements in support of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.
Schleich, the world’s leading manufacturer of animal characters and playsets, is pleased to enter into a yearlong partnership with the American Montessori Society. The American Montessori Society promotes independent, engaged and self-motivated learning. Schleich animal characters integrate into educational activities such as those in language development and cultural studies. The quality and realism of Schleich characters align perfectly with the Montessori educational philosophy.
Spielwarenmesse eG and Licensing International have announced a co-branded event that combines their skillsets to provide the Germany and the wider German-speaking region with a licensing event of its own. Licensing-X Germany will offer the licensing sector across Germany, Austria and Switzerland a new platform and will coincide with Insights-X, the established stationery event, from 5 to 7 October 2022 at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre.
The Global Licensing Group, organizers of Licensing Expo, has announced a continuation of its strategic partnership with Products of Change (POC), a global educational hub aimed at driving sustainable change across the consumer product markets and beyond.
Netflix and Dr. Seuss Enterprises have announced they will bring some of the most iconic and beloved stories and characters of Dr. Seuss to life with five new animated preschool series and specials. The projects are inspired by treasured stories like Horton Hears a Who!, The Sneetches, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and Wacky Wednesday, in addition to lovable characters like Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. Executive Producer Dustin Ferrer (Esme & Roy, Shimmer & Shine, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) will serve as showrunner across all five, and additional showrunners will be revealed in the coming weeks. The announcement expands the partnership between Netflix and Dr. Seuss Enterprises even further, following the launch of the critically acclaimed animated series Green Eggs and Ham in 2019, which will have its anticipated second season premiere April 8, 2022.
Pisces USA, innovative world leaders dedicated to natural pet products, launch Pet Natural, plant powered botanical extract dog grooming range at Global Pet Expo. Pet Natural draws on the brilliance of Australian certified organic extracts to deliver advanced eco-conscious dog grooming products for the first time.
Paris-based children’s entertainment content distribution company Kids First has inked a raft of deals with international broadcasters for both season 1 (52 x 11’) and season 2 (52 x 11’) of hit animated series Nate is Late, produced by Watch Next Media and commissioned by France Télévisions (France), Super RTL (Germany) and Canal J (France). Kids First had sold Nate Is Late season 2 to leading Chinese SVOD platform Tencent, as well as streaming platform Kidoodle for North America.