HCCB and Vivendi strike six-year Paddington deal

HarperCollins Children’s Books (HCCB) has inked a six-year deal with French firm Vivendi for world publishing rights (including audiobook and e-book) to the Paddington brand.

The partnership will launch with a film tie-in, co-published by HarperCollins US and UK, to the second Paddington film, created by Vivendi subsidiary Studiocanal and released this autumn.

HarperCollins has published Michael Bond’s series since the release of A Bear Called Paddington in 1958, and issued Love From Paddington in 2014 to coincide with the first Studiocanal film.

Ann-Janine Murtagh, executive publisher of HCCB, said: “We share [Vivendi’s] ambition to ensure that Paddington Bear builds an ever bigger fanbase and continues to endear children worldwide. Paddington publishing marks a key strand of HarperCollins’ growth strategy and we look forward to working with our colleagues at Vivendi in the years ahead.”