Charlie Brown in your Joe Boxers?
Charlie Brown and Snoopy, born out of Charles M. Schulz's imagination in St. Paul back in 1950, may soon be headed for your shorts, or your raincoat.
Iconix, the company that owns Joe Boxer, London Fog and other clothing brands, has closed a deal to buy an 80 percent stake in the Peanuts brand from E.W. Scripps and United Features Syndicate.
The other 20 percent will go to the Schulz family. And under the agreement, no new characters or strips will be drawn or published.
That leaves, what, only a goldmine, right? Pigpen underpants, anyone? Maybe, "A Charlie Brown Raincoat?"
Iconix CEO Neil Cole confirmed the sale in the company's Q1 earnings report.
The deal "further diversifies our Company into new categories, channels, and territories and provides a large global platform from which we hope to leverage our existing and future brands," he said in a mouthful of business buzzwords.
Peanuts is published in more than 2,200 newspapers in 75 countries, and is translated into 25 languages. The license is worth about $2 billion a year.
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
