HIT Entertainment Digital Newsroom

HIT Entertainment Names American Greetings Master Social Expressions Licensee for HIT's Premiere Portfolio of Brands

NEW YORK, NY

HIT Entertainment, a leading provider of quality children's entertainment, names American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM), the world's largest publicly owned creator, manufacturer and distributor of social expression products, as the master social expressions licensee for HIT's portfolio of brands, including Angelina Ballerina™, Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Fireman Sam™, Rainbow Magic™, Thomas & Friends™, as well as acquired properties including Chapman Entertainment's Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ and Aardman Animations' Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™ and Timmy Time™.

Under the terms of the agreement, American Greetings will design, manufacture, distribute and market key social expressions items, such as party supplies and decorations, greeting cards, invitations, stickers, gift packaging and seasonal items, including Valentine's Day cards and Christmas ornaments, for leading HIT brands.

The new product designs will be available at mass and specialty party goods retailers starting in spring 2009 in the US and Canada.

"American Greetings, with their strong commitment to quality, is a leader in the social expressions category and therefore, is the perfect partner for HIT's world renowned portfolio of brands," said Gary Krakower, Senior Vice President, US Licensing & Live Events, HIT Entertainment. "American Greetings' commitment to HIT's properties speaks to the strength of our brands and we look forward to working with them to develop innovative items and designs to appeal to today's families and children."

"HIT Entertainment's commitment to reinventing evergreen franchises like Barney, Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine, while simultaneously developing great new properties makes them an ideal partner to support and market greeting cards, party goods, gift wrap, stickers and ornaments that consumers will enjoy for many years to come," says Michael Brown, Vice President of Licensing, American Greetings. "We're very pleased to collaborate with a company respected industry-wide for its rich portfolio of familiar characters, dedication to creating engaging, family entertainment, and skillful navigation of its brands."

About American Greetings Corporation
For more than 100 years, American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM) has been a manufacturer and retailer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships. The Company's major greeting card brands are American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled Paper Greetings and Papyrus, and other paper product offerings include DesignWare party goods, American Greetings and Plus Mark gift-wrap and boxed cards and DateWorks calendars. American Greetings also has the largest collection of electronic greetings on the Web, including cards available at AmericanGreetings.com through AG Interactive, Inc. (the Company's online division). AG Interactive also offers digital photo sharing and personal publishing at PhotoWorks.com and Webshots.com and a one-stop source for online graphics and animations at Kiwee.com. In addition to its product lines, American Greetings also creates and licenses popular character brands through the American Greetings Properties group. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings generates annual revenue of approximately $1.7 billion, and its products can be found in retail outlets domestically and worldwide. For more information on the Company, visit http://corporate.americangreetings.com.

About HIT Entertainment

HIT Entertainment, owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners since June 2005, is one of the world’s leading independent children’s entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT’s portfolio includes internationally renowned children’s properties, such as Bob the Builder™, Barney™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Rubbadubbers™ and Angelina Ballerina™. HIT acts as a representative for The Wiggles® in the UK, US and Canada and as worldwide representative for The Jim Henson Company’s library of classic family brands, including Fraggle Rock™. HIT also owns the Guinness World Records™ publishing and television property and Fireman Sam™, a joint venture with S4C. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production (including studios in the US and the UK), publishing, consumer products licensing and live events. With a catalog of more than 1,000 hours of young children’s programming, HIT sells its shows to more than 240 countries worldwide, in more than 40 different languages and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. In 2005, the Company joined Comcast Corporation, PBS and Sesame Workshop to launch PBS KIDS Sprout℠, a 24-hour digital cable channel and VOD service for preschoolers. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.