Fiskars Group and Moomin Characters enter into a new era of strategic partnership
As of today, Fiskars Group becomes a shareholder in Rights & Brands, a licensing agency representing iconic Nordic brands such as the Moomins. With joint business planning as well as shared international growth plans and initiatives, Fiskars Group, Rights & Brands and Moomin Characters aim to develop new consumer-centric concepts globally.
70 years after Tove Jansson designed the first Moomin dishes together with her mother for the Arabia brand, now owned by Fiskars Group, Fiskars Group and Moomin Characters join forces in an unforeseen way to create more memorable moments together. The new arrangement with Fiskars Group as a minority shareholder in Rights & Brands (R&B), the long-time, worldwide licensing and master Moomin agent, solidifies the unique partnership and grants Fiskars Group access to a wide portfolio of R&B’s beloved brands, including the Moomins.
“This is an outstanding moment for us, as two iconic Finnish design powerhouses join forces to go even more global and tap into new geographies beyond our existing markets. Our shared global ambition, love for Nordic lifestyle and design, as well as our shared values provide an excellent starting point for deepening the collaboration. We have decades of experience of managing the Moomin license together, but now we are exploring a panoply of innovative concepts and even potential new brands to create unique and exciting experiences for consumers around the globe,” says Nathalie Ahlström, CEO of Fiskars Group.
Currently, the collaboration between the iconic brands includes the immensely popular Moomin tableware series as well as cutlery, scissors, tumblers and interior products with the beloved characters. Through the deepened collaboration, Fiskars, R&B and Moomin Characters are looking beyond the present products and categories to grow even further globally, reaching both existing Moomin fans and new audiences with exciting concepts and platforms. Notably, the Moomins will celebrate their 80th anniversary in 2025, which is an important milestone the brands are looking forward to partnering on.
"The Moomin stories are essentially about the most important things in life, to anyone anywhere, anytime, with themes like respect for one another, family, love, compassion, tolerance, freedom and appreciating the nature at the core of them. Throughout our long joint history, Fiskars Group has done an extraordinary job of transforming these original stories and the original visual language into something that looks and feels enchanting and beautiful on tableware of high quality. We share many of the values found in the original stories, as well as the desire to make long-lasting beautiful things for a sustainable future. Hence, I am utterly excited and so glad about this new joint step towards a wider and more international collaboration,” tells Sophia Jansson, Owner and Creative Director of Moomin Characters.
“At Rights & Brands, we are very much looking forward to the exciting synergies we are creating with this new partnership. R&B, Moomin and Fiskars Group jointly offer an extremely appealing mix of art, brand development, retail knowledge, territorial coverage and storytelling. Bringing together our respective networks, insights and know-how is set to completely re-write the path of licensing,” says Patrick Ullman, CEO of Rights & Brands.
Media contacts:
Kati Kaskeala, Vice President, Brand Portfolio & Communication, Fiskars Group, tel. +358 40 841 7884, kati.kaskeala(at)fiskars.com
Patrick Ullman, CEO, R & B Licensing AB, tel. +46 (0) 733 649 329, patrick.ullman(at)rightsandbrands.com
Roleff Kråkström, CEO, Moomin Characters, tel. +358 (0)400 549 692, roleff.krakstrom(at)moomin.com
Fiskars Group - Making the everyday extraordinary
Fiskars Group’s vision is to create a positive, lasting impact on our quality of life. Our brands Fiskars, Gerber, Iittala, Royal Copenhagen, Waterford, and Wedgwood are present in people’s everyday lives – at home, in the garden, and outdoors. This gives us an opportunity to make the everyday extraordinary today, and for future generations. We have a presence in 30 countries, and our products are available in more than 100 countries. Our shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki (FSKRS). Please visit us at www.fiskarsgroup.com for more information and follow us on Twitter @fiskarsgroup.
About Rights & Brands
Rights & Brands is a 360 licensing and publishing agency bringing Nordic rights and brands to a global arena. With a strategic base in literature, art and design, R&B’s platform is built on knowledge, passion and people. Using all aspects of character representation and branding, from publishing and PR to licensing, merchandising and digital development, with a worldwide network of sub-agents and over 800 clients, R&B’s international insight and business capacity is unique.
Rights & Brands represents iconic Nordic brands, artists and authors and is the worldwide master agent on behalf of Moomin Characters. Other representation includes Astrid Lindgren and Ilon Wikland, Mauri Kunnas, Oili Tanninen, Stig Lindberg, and many more.
With headquarters in Stockholm and local branches in Helsinki, Oslo and Tokyo, R&B was founded in 2016 by Moomin Characters and Bulls, combining over 70 years of licensing experience.
Moomin Characters
Moomin Characters Oy Ltd is the official copyright holder of all the Moomin characters. All characters from Moominvalley are trademark registered worldwide. The Moomins are central characters in a series of books and comic strips written by Finnish-Swedish writer and artist Tove Jansson between 1945 and 1980. They are one of Finland’s biggest exports and have a global fan base.
The company was founded in the 1950’s by Tove Jansson (1914-2001) and her brother Lars Jansson to take care of the copyright of the Moomins and is still run by family members.
Rights and Brands is the worldwide licensing agent of the company.
Find out more about Tove Jansson and the Moomins here:
