Coolabi Share Discussion Threads

[lufc5] 06/2/2011 21:15

Coolabi


Like Chorion, Coolabi makes most of its money from children's properties. But much of the company's personnel, including Chief Executive Jeremy Banks, had worked previously for Chorion, and were very keen to move into the literary estate business. "When I was brought in to run Coolabi, it was very much part of my strategy to build a business, cradle-to-grave - preschool to adult," Banks explained in a telephone interview from his London office. "We focused first on kids' brands because that was an easy enough thing to do, and because it takes a great deal more time and care to manage literary estates for non-children's properties than some of the children's assets."

Coolabi was so keen to expand their literary estates division, in fact, that Coolabi made a serious offer to buy Chorion in April 2009, just a month after acquiring the Ambler, Creasey and Innes estates. The reasoning seemed rather sound: Chorion was more interested in its more lucrative divisions, and Coolabi wanted to add more marquee names. After a flurry of speculation when talks first leaked to the media, all fell quiet until Coolabi confirmed the deal had fallen through last October. Banks would not comment further on specifics of the deal, but did say that if he were in a position to acquire Chorion's literary estates, "I absolutely would. I think the assets that they have are absolutely valuable, and there's an awful lot more that can be done with them."

By and large, most publishers and agents I spoke with did not want to go on the record about brand management companies like Chorion and Coolabi. Perhaps it's because they don't want to admit that for the likes of Agatha Christie, Eric Ambler and especially for Raymond Chandler, negotiating with brand management companies requires a whole different set of skills than what's required for dealing with agents. (One publisher who did not wish to be named quipped archly that working with brand management companies is "exactly like working with an agency, except that they are even more attentive to what they imagine to be in their author's interest.")

That said, Maggie Topkis, proprietor of the crime fiction reprint house Felony & Mayhem Press, is a "huge fan" of Chorion, whom she deals with regularly as the American publisher for Edmund Crispin, Margery Allingham and Nicholas Freeling. "They are proactive," Topkis said. "It's like in the movie Tootsie, where Dustin Hoffman grows increasingly frustrated about dealing with agents and eventually asks his own, 'So what's your job?' and the agent replies, 'to field offers.' That's the way a lot of agents approach what they do. Chorion is more of a go-getter. They practice an old-school Dale Carnegie-style salesmanship."

Banks describes Coolabi's approach to brand management in more measured terms. "For us, when we sat down with publishing houses, what we are able to do is to say, 'well look, here's what we've done in the UK, we've increased book sales by X%, so here's what we can do in France or Germany.' We demonstrate that if you follow brand management path, [publishers] can increase sales materially. Do that in a number of different territories, then there's a greater inclination to follow that brand management path."

For now, companies like Chorion and Coolabi are few and far between. But at a time when publishing is in so much flux, and when agents like Andrew Wylie - one of the undisputed kings of literary estate representation –- rattle big publishers by setting up, however fleetingly, digital publishing initiatives like Odyssey Editions to produce e-book editions of their most prized backlist works, the possibility of new brand management companies sprouting in the future seems highly likely.

Topkis of Felony & Mayhem is one who wishes for such a possibility, while recognizing it would take some serious deviation from the traditional agenting arc. "It takes a particular type of irritating, pain-in-the-ass-type person to say this is the way things work and it's a bad thing, or that there is a different way," she said. "If you are that person, it's relatively rare you get into a position of authority. And once you're in that position, in order to implement brand management you need some money! It's a tough sell, particularly today."

[lord gnome] 06/2/2011 09:44

Interesting figures LUFC. I make that 77.45% of all stock in firm hands, leaving only 22.55% or around 12.5 million shares in free float. At a share price of just 7p offered, that's a paltry £875k's worth of stock. Any real demand should propel these much higher. In the meantime, the Market Makers have locked down on-line buying limits. Role on next results.

[lufc5] 05/2/2011 21:37

Shareholder Percentage Holding Holding Date
M. D. BARNARD & CO LTD 13.552305 28-02-2010
Williams De Broe Ltd 11.515008 27-10-2010
David Roger Llewellyn Trust 9.949214 01-11-2010
Edge Investment Management Limited 5.628906 28-02-2010
BlackRock Inv Mgmt 5.478801 28-02-2010
Herald Inv Mgmt Ltd 5.385738 28-02-2010
Global Asset Mgmt Ltd 5.253643 28-02-2010
Mr Leonard Licht 4.818344 28-02-2010
Amati Global Investors Limited 4.657822 19-10-2010
Beringea 4.327285 28-02-2010
Antony Roger Jordan 3.6025 29-03-2010
W S Harris 2.544264 16-11-2009
J Banks 1.260875 23-10-2008

[lufc5] 05/2/2011 21:36

Shareholder Percentage Holding Holding Date
M. D. BARNARD & CO LTD 13.552305 28-02-2010
Williams De Broe Ltd 11.515008 27-10-2010
David Roger Llewellyn Trust 9.949214 01-11-2010
Edge Investment Management Limited 5.628906 28-02-2010
BlackRock Inv Mgmt 5.478801 28-02-2010
Herald Inv Mgmt Ltd 5.385738 28-02-2010
Global Asset Mgmt Ltd 5.253643 28-02-2010
Mr Leonard Licht 4.818344 28-02-2010
Amati Global Investors Limited 4.657822 19-10-2010
Beringea 4.327285 28-02-2010
Antony Roger Jordan 3.6025 29-03-2010
W S Harris 2.544264 16-11-2009
J Banks 1.260875 23-10-2008

[gutterhead] 05/2/2011 14:56

well worth a pocket money punt-placed order for monday

this share could do anything if results are good

[lufc5] 04/2/2011 16:17

Steve.

Average down....buy another £1250 worth and "when" they double from here, you'll have all ya money back.....simples....lol

[tom.muir] 04/2/2011 16:11

The best I can say Steve is to put them back in the drawer and forget them again.

[stevestallwood] 04/2/2011 15:45

Tom, I bought £1250's worth of these shares in 2001 and "tucked them away in a drawer and forgot about them". I've got 87 COO shares to sell at £14.50 each - any offers?

[tom.muir] 04/2/2011 10:16

iloveit - you are making a common mistake here - thinking that the performance of the share price is the same as the performance of the company. They frequently part company but for long term investors its not a problem as eventually they come together. Indeed when the price performs badly when the company looks good then that is an buying opportunity. Just tuck them away in a drawer and forget about them for a few weeks or months.
There is nothing to be gained by looking at the share price several times a day and beating yourself up when it fails to move.
One further point - this is a tiny company and most institutions won't look at anything with a market cap under at least £50m. So this depends more on private investors and they will have to buy and sell shedloads to shift the price significantly.
For what it's worth I bought for the first time this week and am confident of the medium term prospects.
Best regards Tom

[iloveit] 04/2/2011 08:54

Still no buys today first thing.

[iloveit] 03/2/2011 17:03

Scarlett & Crimson ,

[bbd2] 03/2/2011 16:11

Scarlett & Crimson Announces New Partners

03 Feb 11

Leading children's and family entertainment producer and rights management company Coolabi is further expanding the reach of its hit property Scarlett & Crimson, signing Rudolf Stein and Grace Cole as new UK licensing partners and appointing new international agents for the brand.

Following the huge success of Scarlett & Crimson products at retail in Boots and Superdrug stores in the UK, Coolabi has appointed Rudolf Stein as hair and fashion accessories licensee for the brand. Rudolf Stein's success with strong high street accounts including Claire's Accessories and Top Shop, as well as with other key tween and teen retailers, sets an excellent precedent for the new Scarlett & Crimson range, launching this Autumn.



Coolabi has also signed an agreement with leading health and beauty producers Grace Cole for toiletries including hair care, bath and body products which will launch this autumn.

Expanding the property's global reach, Hip Designs Ltd has been appointed as licensing agent for Benelux, RMP Licensing for France and Gorian has been renewed as the agent for Scarlett and Crimson in Germany and German-speaking territories. Hip Designs Ltd and RMP will work with Coolabi locally to develop and execute a brand strategy to develop and grow Scarlett & Crimson for the first time in France and Benelux, while Gorian will continue to expand the existing program.

Anna Hewitt, Head of Licensing, Coolabi said: "Scarlett & Crimson will continue to be a major brand for us in 2011 and we are excited to be taking the licensing program into brand new territories worldwide as well as signing new licensing partners in the UK. The new products will be a great addition to the current ranges we already have available at retail."



Sarah Duncan, CEO, Rudolf Stein said: "Scarlett & Crimson is a wonderful addition to our portfolio. Teens / tweeners have a relatively limited retail offer to choose from and we are very excited at the prospect of developing a wonderful range of fashion accessories to build on the significant success already enjoyed by this property."



Tracy Mort, Managing Director, Grace Cole said: "It was love at first sight with the Scarlett & Crimson license – they charmed us completely with their positive attitude and individuality. The whole team has really got behind the brand and our bath and body range looks exceptional. We can't wait to launch the products to retailers at the Spring Fair this week – we're anticipating phenomenal success for S&C this year."



Co-owned by Coolabi and creator Ged Backland, the Scarlett & Crimson brand has shown growing appeal among teen and tween girls thanks to its themes of strong individual style, deep friendship and being your own person. The brand is enjoying success in both the UK and North American market where key categories in development include perfume, bath and body, gifting and accessories, stationery and apparel.

[lufc5] 03/2/2011 14:34

Wins have stepped back upto 6.5p as they must be short of stock....

This could be building a little pressure.....

Watch for any mm games...especially the weeks before results....as we near them

I may top up soon if another comes good.

[lufc5] 03/2/2011 12:39

Maybe try a fill or kill order....that's if you're wanting size...ie above 11k

[iloveit] 03/2/2011 10:53

Good Morning,would you believe it this stock has failed to live up to my expectations last year they started at 8p a share and this year they now stand at less than 6.5p bid and thats with all the so called contracts ,sales,deals and more, how rosy ,seriously what if they gave us bad news maybe we could be a lot higher and closer to my 20p a share target .

This really looks doomed to me as a shareholder ,as the months and years go on ,what a drag and yes wages are still being paid here.
I have been off this BB for a while now and do iloveit not really ,Coolabi letting us all down .

[someuwin] 03/2/2011 10:41

Maximum buy online is 11,000 at 7p i.e only £770.

[wearehere] 03/2/2011 10:32

Seems to me they cannot treeshake any sellers ,even when bid was 6.5p+ to many in here at massive losses but to scared to top up at this level for fear of getting well sucked in here and getting screwed up .
It really needs a decent trading day here on what really is happeneing at coolabi,has anyone bought or even traded any merchandise from them ?ie toys,cards,books,etc all we here is wow look at the sales but are the tills ringing ?

[lufc5] 03/2/2011 09:04

LG.
Max now seems to be 11k....Why not try a fill or kill at perhaps 7.1 or 7.2p if you're wanting size..????.....or you could wait it out????
Only a suggestion.....
Cheers.....and good luck...

[lord gnome] 03/2/2011 08:37

Max you can buy online is 15k at full offer. Still trying to buy a few more.

[lufc5] 03/2/2011 08:23

What's needed here is a bucket load of patience....value will rise to the top.....eventually....I'm fairly confident of that.

[someuwin] 03/2/2011 08:11

Should be well over 10p by the time PC launches on TV in a few weeks time.

[wearehere] 03/2/2011 08:09

Now why doesnt that surprise me ,COOLABI starts down first thing this morning.

[lufc5] 02/2/2011 21:33

WHAT'S WITH THE CAPS?????......LOL

[wearehere] 02/2/2011 21:31

We shall see in the morning ,HAS the CITY taken note ?

[bbd2] 02/2/2011 18:31

The answer is no at the moment but I suspect yes once the results are out. However, as you have quite rightly pointed out, stock is limited. Therefore, those who wait will have no chance of getting in at this level (if the results are good).
Same old dilema for investors ( not traders) - buy in now while cheap as chips and back your research that says the company has turned the corner or wait for proof and pay a much higher price. For me, I have a strong feeling that this will be another SYM for me.