Disney buys Pooh Bear
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March 5, 2001: 3:17 p.m. ET
Company pays $350M to A.A. Milne Trust for Winnie the Pooh's future use
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Cartoon character Winnie The Pooh has found a new home at The Walt Disney Co., a Disney spokesman told CNNfn.
Walt Disney has bought the rights to the royalty stream from the A.A. Milne Trust as well as future use of the cartoon character. Disney had previously paid for limited use of the Winnie character, the spokesman said.
"This will give us the right to use Pooh in new media like the Internet or whatever media should arise," a spokesman said.
Burbank-based Walt Disney (DIS: Research, Estimates) paid $350 million for control of the honey guzzling bear, sources within the company said.
Disney first bought rights to Winnie The Pooh in the 1960s and has renewed those rights every year, paying twice-yearly royalties. Disney now has the rights to the cartoon character until the copyright expires in 2026, press reports said.
Disney's stable of characters, which include Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, have grown only 20 percent while sales of Pooh products have doubled over the past five years, London's Sunday Times said, which first reported news of the Winnie The Pooh sale.
Disney declined to comment on the sales growth of its cartoon characters.
Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie The Pooh, sold half of his quarter share of the story's royalties before he died five years ago, the newspaper said.
The Winnie purchase follows a 15-year marketing deal inked last month where the Coca-Cola Co. will start selling juices with packaging featuring Disney characters later this year.
Shares for Disney lost 40 cents to $29.59 in afternoon trading Monday while Coca-Cola (KO: Research, Estimates) fell $2.81 to $49.74.
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