UFS sells Peanuts to Iconix and Schultz family

Posted | Contributed by Jerry

The rights to the Peanuts comic- strip characters and other assets will be bought by Iconix Brand Group Inc. and the family of cartoonist Charles Schulz for $175 million, adding to the company’s earnings this year. Iconix will acquire an 80 percent share of the brand and the Schulz family will purchase 20 percent from current owners United Features Syndicate Inc. and E.W. Scripps Co. The deal includes character brands Dilbert and Fancy Nancy, Iconix said in a statement today. The company owns and markets consumer brands globally.

Read more from Bloomberg via Businessweek.

This isn't strictly industry news outside of the fact that Cedar Fair is a licensee, but it's worth noting that this is apparently a $2 billion business, and two-thirds of the business around the brand comes from outside the US.

Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog

Yeah, Snoopy is HUGE in Japan apparently. I remember watching Travel Channel and finding out that Uni Japan did a survey and Snoopy was so popular that that's why they licensed him.

I hope the new company doesn't up the licensing fee to what Nick charged or we'll have "Planet Boo Blasters" and "Camp Boo Blasters" in a few years :).

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.

I'm hoping they start selling some more quality apparel in the Cedar Fair Parks with the peanuts logo - I bought two embroidered sweatshirts that look like cheese cloth after just a few hand washings...

Snoopy is great for the Cedar Fair parks kids areas, but we could also be licensing Dilbert? Seems like they could have some fun adding him to the parks in some fashion?

God, Family, Brewing, and Bicycling.

I look around and see plenty of Dilberts every time I go the parks.

Before you can be older and wiser you first have to be young and stupid.

It would only make sense to license Dilbert to a park that actually has an IT infrastructure. Like, say, Knoebels, for instance. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

    /X\        _      *** Respect rides. They do not respect you. ***
   /XXX\      /X\     /X\_      _     /X\__      _     _        _____
  /XXXXX\    /XXX\   /XXXX\_   /X\   /XXXXX\    /X\   /X\      /XXXXX
_/XXXXXXX\__/XXXXX\/XXXXXXXX\_/XXX\_/XXXXXXX\__/XXX\_/XXX\_/\_/XXXXXX

DaveStroem said:
I look around and see plenty of Dilberts every time I go the parks.

Hey!!! I resemble that remark!

RideMan said:
It would only make sense to license Dilbert to a park that actually has an IT infrastructure. Like, say, Knoebels, for instance. :)
--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I am pretty sure during my short tenure under CF, that Mordac the Preventer had to be working overtime there.

It was a big shock after the Paramount Environment where the IT guys mostly understood they were a service organization there to provide us with quality tools to do our job.

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