Shares digital

Swiftly following a development deal with the Disney Channel for The Shaila Show, media group Coolabi (COO:AIM) has announced the commission of a new animated series, Poppy Cat, for Nickelodeon channel Nick Jr.

In its original book form, Poppy Cat has established great popularity with pre-school children all over the world. The books, written by Lara Jones, have sold over 1.7 million copies in Europe, Asia and Latin America since they were first published in 2002.

Through the Coolabi and Nickelodeon deal the books will be transformed into an animated series, which will use innovative animation techniques to portray the pop-up aspect of the books. The series is set to air in late 2009/early 2010 and is Coolabi’s first original commission from Nickelodeon.

Coolabi has been making great progress over the past year, completing numerous acquisitions. Back in September, the group bought children’s television production company, Indie Kids, which produces shows such as The Large Family and Fungus The Bogeyman for Cbeebies and BBC respectively, as well as The Worst Witch for CITV. It also acquired Purple Enterprises, owner of all rights in the Purple Ronnie brand, last April.

Chief executive, Jeremy Banks, says the latest deal ‘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’. The shares of Coolabi climbed 3% to 35p following the news.

Shares says: Coolabi’s growth strategy is rapidly picking up pace and this should soon be reflected in the share price.