Granada Ventures Scores New Licensing Partners for Bella Sara

LOS ANGELES, March 28: Granada Ventures has secured three global licensing partners for its girl-skewing property Bella Sara: HarperCollins, Codemasters and Sababa Toys.

HarperCollins was appointed as the worldwide master publishing licensee for Bella Sara. The deal covers all publishing formats, including story, activity and illustrated novels.

Meanwhile, Codemasters has been tapped as the video games publisher worldwide for the property, excluding Scandinavia. The company will launch games for Nintendo DS and PCs in time for Christmas 2008. The Bella Sara gaming titles will immerse players in an interactive world of fantasy horses, where players will be able to ride, care for, accessorize and trade the horses with friends while discovering secret items and exclusive cards to activate on the official Bella Sara website, www.bellasara.com.

Finally, Sababa Toys has been named as the master toy licensee in all English-speaking territories worldwide. The company will develop a comprehensive toy line that includes collectable miniature horses, 5-inch figurines, plush and games that are expected to roll out this fall.

Targeted at 5- to 12-year-old girls, Bella Sara has sold more than 40 million trading cards worldwide since the series debuted in 2007. Each Bella Sara card features a fairytale-like illustration of a horse along with a positive and inspirational message for young girls, such as “Beauty comes from within” or “Be the hero in your own story.” A unique code on every card activates a virtual horse that can be cared for in the Bella Sara online world, which features hundreds of virtual horses, a variety of age-appropriate casual games, customizable cottages, puzzles, coloring books and interactive stories. The site has amassed more than 2 million registered users from 240 countries.

Granada Ventures represents the worldwide licensing rights for Bella Sara (excluding Scandinavia) in all categories, with the exception of collectible cards and entertainment programming, which are held by licensor Hidden City Games. The Bella Sara cards were created by former social worker Gitte Braengaard in Denmark, and subsequently introduced outside of Scandinavia by Hidden City Games’ Peter Adkison (who previously launched the Pokémon  and Magic: The Gathering trading-card games).

Melanie Beer, the head of licensing at Granada Ventures, said: "Due to the phenomenal success of this unique brand, we’ve managed to attract high-caliber licensees to form the cornerstone of our licensing program. We’re delighted to be working with HarperCollins, Codemasters and Sababa Toys and will work together to maximize the huge global sales potential for Bella Sara-branded products at retail."

Paula Miller, the VP of licensing at Granada Ventures USA, added, “Bella Sara is shaping up to be an extraordinary and exciting long-term licensing program. We have attracted some of the most world-renowned partners in our first tier categories and fully expect that to continue as we finalize deals in other key categories such as apparel, accessories, back-to-school, greeting cards, stationery, bedding and room d飯r. It’s clear that Bella Sara has touched the hearts of millions of girls around the world and we are proud to be a part of it.”

—By Irene Lew