31 Jan 08

Nickelodeon UK commissions Coolabi for first series on Nick Jr Channel

London, UK (31 January, 2008): Coolabi plc (COO:L), today announces the commission of a new animated series, Poppy Cat, for Nickelodeon UK's award winning pre-school channel Nick Jr.

The best-selling Poppy Cat pre-school books will be transformed into a 52 x 11' animated series, which is Coolabi's first original commission for Nickelodeon.

The series is due to air in late 2009 / early 2010 and will use innovative animation techniques to mirror the pop-up feel of the books.

Poppy Cat is hugely popular with pre-school children worldwide: the books by Lara Jones have sold over 1.7 million copies in Europe, Asia and Latin America since first publication in 2002.

The commission follows Coolabi's development deal with Disney Channel's London based Global Original Programming hub for The Shaila Show and the acquisition last November of children's production company, Indie Kids.

Commenting on the deal, Jeremy Banks, Chief Executive of Coolabi said: 'We are very pleased that an established children's broadcaster such as Nickelodeon sees the potential of Poppy Cat and we look forward to extending our relationship with the channel.

'This is another important development in a short space of time for our production business and fulfils one of our key objectives for this financial year.'

Debbie MacDonald, Programming Director for Nickelodeon UK, said; 'There is a brilliant creative team with a great track record behind Poppy Cat, and we at Nickelodeon are hugely excited to be working with Coolabi in recreating such a popular character for the small screen.'

ENDS

Enquiries:

Jeremy Banks, Chief Executive, Coolabi plc:

T: 020 7258 7080

Bobbie Hilliam

Evolution Securities Ltd

T: 020 7071 4300

Verity Williams

Portland for Coolabi:

T: 020 7404 5344

E: verity.williams@portlandpr.co.uk

About Coolabi plc:

Coolabi plc (COO:L) the AIM-listed company specialises in the ownership, development, production and creative management of high quality children's and family intellectual property assets and their global exploitation through licensing and merchandising and distribution.

The group owns or controls the intellectual property rights to international brands including Purple Ronnie, as well as selected rights to properties such as the Hammer House of Horror. In October 2007 Coolabi plc acquired Indie Kids Ltd, a boutique production company responsible for a variety of hit shows including The Large Family and Fungus The Bogeyman for CBBC and The Worst Witch for CiTV

Coolabi is actively looking to increase the number and range of intellectual property assets that it owns, develops and manages. Whilst a proportion of this growth will come from the development of Coolabi's existing development slate, the majority will be as a result of the group's acquisition strategy.

http://www.coolabi.com

This information is provided by RNS