Character Group PLC
17 February 2006
Issued on behalf of The Character Group plc
Date: Friday, 17 February 2006
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Character Group plc
('The Group' or 'the Company')
Completion of the Sale of the Group's Digital Business
The Directors of The Character Group plc are pleased to announce that completion
has taken place today of the sale of the digital products division of World Wide
Licenses Limited ('WWL') and related assets (the 'Digital Business') to
Flextronics Sales and Marketing (A-P) Limited ('Flextronics').
The total sale price is payable by Flextronics is approximately US$17.98 million
which comprises goodwill of US$16 million and approximately US$1.98 million
relating to the value of stocks and assets. The sum of approximately US$1.8
million has been retained by Flextronics until the first anniversary of
completion as security in respect of any warranty or indemnity claims against
WWL.
The Group will continue to have a presence in Hong Kong, which, together with
its new facilities in Shenzhen, China, will enable the Group to continue the
growth of its Toys, Games and Gifts businesses in addition to managing the Hong
Kong and Chinese logistics for the overall Group.
Richard King, Executive Chairman of The Character Group, commented:
'We believe that the sale of the Digital Business will allow the Company to
focus entirely upon the development of its Toys, Games and Gifts businesses and
that Flextronics is uniquely placed to develop the Digital Business to a far
higher level than the Group could have achieved in the same timescale.'
'The Board would like to put on record its thanks to Giovanni Tomaselli (the
out-going Managing Director of WWL) and the rest of the Digital team in Hong
Kong and China for their hard work over the past years and we wish them well for
the future.'
Editors Note: WWL is based in Hong Kong and until completion of the sale of the
Digital Business was engaged in the design, development and manufacture of
digital products, which principally consist of digital cameras. WWL entered the
digital camera market in June 2000 and, until completion of the sale, was a
significant supplier in this sector, with its total shipment to the date of
completion of well in excess of two million digital cameras worldwide. In the
financial year ended 31 August 2005, the Digital Business recorded profit before
tax of approximately £0.8 million.
Enquiries:
Richard King, Executive Chairman
Kiran Shah, Group Finance Director Fiona Tooley, Director
The Character Group plc Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Today Tel: +44 (0)208 949 5898 Tel: +44 (0) 121 455 8370
Mob: +44 (0)7785 703523 (FMT)
www.thecharacter.com
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