Brown Bag Films’ animated series’ ‘The Octonauts’ and ‘Olivia’ are among the global media company Chorion’s many assets which are to be broken up and sold as lenders behind the company attempt to minimise their losses.
UPDATED 22/09/11: It is reported that the rights to 'The Octonauts' and 'The World of Beatrix Potter' have been sold by Chorion to Silvergate Media, which is backed by former Chorion Chariman Lord Waheed Alli. The two properties have been sold for an undisclosed sum.
Three senior lenders behind Chorion - Bank of Ireland, GE Capital and Lloyds are to sell the rights to Chorion’s individual assets, following the resignation of Chorion Chairman Waheed Alli and Deputy Chairman William Astor in late August. DC Advisory Partners have been appointed to sell the rights to assets which include ‘Mr Men’, ‘Noddy’, Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’ and the IFTA nominated series ‘The Octonauts’.
Produced by Irish based animators ‘Brown Bag Films’, ‘The Octonauts’ is based on the books by Meomi, the first season of ‘The Octonauts’ was shown on CBeebies in the UK in 2010 and on the Disney Junior Channel in the US in 2011. Other Brown Bag projects owned by Chorion include ‘Olivia’ and ‘Noddy in Toyland’.
Rumours have emerged of several companies which are eyeing Chorion’s catalogue, with Disney, Hasbro, Viacom and Saban all possible contenders and production is expected to continue on all projects. Chorion are due to release a statement this week regarding the sale of their assets.
The news comes at a tumultuous time for children’s entertainment, with Entertainment One confirming that it is considering the sale of the massive children’s franchise ‘Peppa Pig’, which includes a theme park ‘Peppa Pig World’.
