Lord of the Rings Deal
Lord of the Rings Deal
LOTR

CREDIT: THE SAUL ZAENTZ COMPANY

EXCELLENCE
"One Deal to rule them all"
Thomas Dey

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Syco

CREDIT: SYCO ENTERTAINMENT

EXCELLENCE
"ACF's certainly got talent"
Ian Rosenblatt OBE

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Bear Grylls
INTEGRITY
“You only get one chance
at life and you have to
grab it boldly”
Bear Grylls

CREDIT: BEAR GRYLLS VENTURES

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Paddington
INSIGHT
“Success doesn't come
to you, you go to it.”
Marva Collins

CREDIT: PADDINGTON AND COMPANY

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Paddington
INSIGHT
“Success doesn't come
to you, you go to it.”
Marva Collins

CREDIT: PADDINGTON AND COMPANY

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Pilgrim

CREDIT: PILGRIM STUDIOS

INSIGHT
“Success comes to
those who act!”
Henry David Thoreau

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Pilgrim

CREDIT: PILGRIM STUDIOS

INSIGHT
“Success comes to
those who act!”
Henry David Thoreau

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Leftfield
INSIGHT
“The key to success is to
focus on goals not obstacles”
Unknown

CREDIT: LEFTFIELD ENTERTAINMENT

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Plimsoll Productions

CREDIT: PLIMSOLL PRODUCTIONS

INSIGHT
“Success is not final,
failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to
continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Love Productions

CREDIT: LOVE PRODUCTIONS

INTEGRITY
“ When something
is important enough,
you do it even if the odds
are not in your favour”
Elon Musk

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

Top Gear
EXCELLENCE
“Success comes to
those who act”
Henry David Thoreau

CREDIT: TOP GEAR

INTEGRITY

EXCELLENCE

INSIGHT

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ACF sell Paddington Bear Intellectual Property Rights to Studio Canal

Above: The PADDINGTON movie, released in 2014 was Studiocanal's biggest success with a global box office close to $300m

ACF Investment Bank advise on the sale of Paddington Bear™ Intellectual Property Rights to Studiocanal.

ACF is pleased to announce that it has advised on the sale of Paddington Bear’s Intellectual Property Rights to Studiocanal.


Studiocanal has acquired Paddington and Company Limited which owns all the intellectual property rights, apart from the publishing rights, in Michael Bond’s classic children’s character, Paddington Bear. At the same time Studiocanal has acquired The Copyrights Group Limited which acts as merchandise licensing agent for Paddington Bear, as well as representing other famous literary properties.

Studiocanal produced The Paddington movie which was the most successful family film release of all time outside of the Hollywood Studios with a gross box office of $290m, and Studiocanal’s most successful film to date. By these acquisitions Studiocanal takes full ownership of the Paddington brand worldwide, including television, merchandising, live entertainment, video games and theme parks allowing it to capitalise on the growing global success of the brand.


Created by Michael Bond CBE in 1958, Paddington Bear is one of the most famous and best-loved children’s book characters with countless fans all over the world. Over 35 million books have been sold worldwide in more than 40 languages and over 25 million people own a Paddington soft toy. According to recognised publication Licensing Biz’s 2015 Power List of most influential brands, Paddington is the 4th most valuable global character brand.

Prior to the sale, the rights to Paddington were controlled and managed by a group of stakeholders including Michael Bond, his daughter Karen Jankel, Managing Director of Paddington and Co, Nicholas Durbridge, Chairman and founder of The Copyrights Group and Stephen Durbridge, founding partner of media agent, The Agency.


Intellectual Property

The Character & Publishing
The Character & Publishing
TV Series
TV Series
Merchandising & Film
Merchandising & Film

“ACF have provided an invaluable role in understanding the opportunity to grow Paddington in all his forms and in quantifying the future value that will be available to a buyer – they very much understand intellectual property businesses. They were creative in their approach and were not fixed in being confined to conventional valuation approaches to a property with such global appeal as Paddington. They were also very astute in structuring a deal to appeal to all parties in the transaction, as well as having a wide range of relationships in the media sector to allow us to ensure we found the right partner in Studiocanal. We very much believe that Paddington is in good hands and look forward to seeing him continue to thrive.”.

Karen Jankel, Managing Director, Paddington and Company Nicholas Durbridge, Chairman, The Copyrights Group Limited Stephen Durbridge, Director, The Agency

“We couldn’t be more pleased to have advised on a transaction involving such an iconic global property as Paddington Bear. With the huge success of the movie, there is a great platform to bring Paddington in all its forms into the lives of new fans globally. Owning and developing compelling content continues to be a key driver for media groups internationally. Studiocanal, in particular, has a wide range of complementary media businesses necessary to develop the property, as well as a careful understanding of how to preserve its core values, and we look forward to watching the property’s growing success under their guardianship.”

ACF Investment Bank


5/5

What People Are Saying

“Since this was our first time working with an investment bank and raising capital for any of our businesses, I wasn’t sure what to expect. ACF has a great reputation and came highly recommended from several people that I hold in high regard. Overall, the experience working with Richard, Milos and Thomas was pure joy. They were the perfect partner for us, as they educated us as we were working through the process, they challenged us to think bigger about the scope and scale of our business, and they aggressively represented our business in the marketplace bringing multiple opportunities to us in a very challenging economic time. The partnership and guidance they provided was essential and they were extremely easy to work with. I only hope this is the first of many deals that we are able to execute together.”

Shawn Gee
Two One Five Entertainment

"ACF’s certainly got talent. Their team, led by the ever-tenacious Thomas Dey, delivered on their promises and introduced the perfect partners to achieve our goals."

Ian Rosenblatt OBE, Director
Syco Entertainment

"Given the complexities and importance of the rights at stake in our transaction, we interviewed several investment bank candidates at length before retaining ACF to guide our process.  We could not have chosen better!  ACF personnel were dedicated, creative, practical, responsive and deeply knowledgeable about the intricacies of the sales process. Over the months involved, Thomas, Richard, Tatiana and the rest of the ACF staff met with and worked skillfully and credibly with scores of potential buyers and with our own employees leading ultimately to a high value and very fair outcome benefitting both our company and the buyer. They have our deep respect and gratitude for a job so well accomplished"

Marty Glick, COO
The Saul Zaentz Company

“At this stage of 72’s development, there are great advantages and opportunities of joining forces with Fremantle. Their extensive international infrastructure and expertise will provide 72 Films with the platform to have our work seen across the world. We know and like their excellent team. And they offer us not only fantastic support but complete creative freedom so we can continue to work in the same way.

It’s been a real pleasure working with Thomas Dey and the whole team at ACF. They are brilliant at what they do. And alongside Matisse it’s been an incredible team behind this deal.”

Mark Raphael, David Glover, Founders and Chief Executive Officers
72 Films

“This exciting new deal between Broke and Bones and Netflix marks an exciting period of content creation, demonstrating the strong relationship between market leading creatives and the streaming platforms. ACF brokered the deal using our strong track record, experience and access in the UK and USA scripted markets. Premium content continues to lead the market with strong deals that ACF have closed including advising Mammoth Screen on sale to ITV, Neal Street to All3Media, Left Bank Pictures to Sony, Thinkfactory to ITV, Paddington Bear to Studio Canal, New Pictures to All3Media, and Carnival Pictures to NBC Universal.”

Thomas Dey, CEO
ACF Investment Bank

"It has been an incredible journey for Delbert and I to get to the stage where we can build out our adventure shows under our own Studio. We stand on the shoulders of many giants, the ACF team have been incredible guides through the process - at its heart this is about building the ultimate home of adventure programming worldwide."

Bear Grylls & Delbert Shoopman
The Natural Studios

"Critical Content has been a leading player in the unscripted space for the last decade, led by a first class team. Media continues to dominate the deal landscape, with content leading the pack. What a great start to 2022! Congratulations to the whole team."

Thomas Dey, CEO
ACF Investment Bank

"Boardwalk Pictures are one of the preeminent producers of premium content and this partnership with Shamrock secures Boardwalks positioning as a leading player in this market. Shamrock’s deep understanding and experience in the content space makes them great partners for Andrew and the team at Boardwalk. I look forward to seeing the growth and future success of this partnership."

RIchard Gray, Managing Director
ACF Investment Bank