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You've got a new owner, Charlie Brown.
E.W. Scripps said Tuesday it will sell the unit that owns the licensing rights to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the "Peanuts" gang for $175 million to Joe Boxer owner Iconix Brand Group .
The sale of United Media Licensing also means Iconix has a new partnership with the family of the late "Peanuts" creator, Charles Schulz. They'll receive 20 percent ownership in the unit that owns "Peanuts" and pay that percentage of the sale price.
United Media Licensing represents other character brands such as Dilbert and Fancy Nancy, but the bulk of its licensing business comes from "Peanuts." The unit's licensed merchandise has annual sales of more than $2 billion. Some 20,000 new products are approved each year, in conjunction with more than 1,250 licensess in about 40 countries.
Scripps first brought the strip to market in 1950. By the time Schulz retired in 1999, Peanuts was in more than 2,600 papers. Schulz died in February 2000.
Scripps said the cash deal will close by the end of the second quarter.
The newspaper publisher and TV station owner announced in February it was exploring a sale.
Iconix, formerly known as Candie's, owns and licenses brands such as Joe Boxer, London Fog, Starter and Mudd. The company, based in New York, licenses its brands to retailesr, wholesalers and suppliers.
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