Harper Collins Children’s Books has signed a six year deal with Vivendi for the world publishing rights for the Paddington sequel Paddington 2.
Following the successful release of the Paddington movie by Studiocanal, a Vivendi subsidiary, in 2014, Vivendi had taken full ownership of the Paddington brand worldwide.
‘The deal marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in Paddington’s history, forming a partnership of media and content creation that will introduce Paddington to a new generation of readers on the global stage,’ reads an issued statement.
Launching with a movie tie-in programme, co-published by HarperCollins US and UK, to coincide with the Paddington 2 movie this Autumn, the partnership has created a strategic alliance of heritage and future vision. This will establish a worldwide brand loyalty for Paddington Bear.
Ann-Janine Murtagh, executive publisher at HarperCollins Children’s Books UK, averred, “We are proud to be both the original publisher of Paddington Bear and now exclusive global publishing partner of the Vivendi group.”
“We share their ambition to ensure that Paddington Bear builds an ever bigger fan base and continues to endear children worldwide. We have been privileged to publish Michael Bond on the HarperCollins list for nearly 60 years,” she added.
Paddington Publishing marks a key strand of HarperCollins’ future growth strategy and the publishing house is looking forward to work with Vivendi in the years to come.
