Cookie Jar Entertainment To Acquire American Greetings' Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears Properties

Cookie Jar Entertainment To Acquire American Greetings' Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears Properties

Companies reach definitive settlement of litigation relating to Cookie Jar's acquisition of DIC Entertainment

CLEVELAND and TORONTO, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Greetings Corporation (NYSE:AM) and Cookie Jar Entertainment announced today a transaction through which Cookie Jar will acquire from American Greetings the Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears properties for $195 million. The announcement was made by Cookie Jar CEO Michael Hirsh and Josef Mandelbaum, CEO Intellectual Property Group at American Greetings.

Since being re-introduced in 2002, Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears have generated more than $5 billion combined in retail sales of licensed product. As part of the deal, Cookie Jar will acquire the rights to Sushi Pack, a new property created by Studio Espinosa and co-produced by American Greetings and DIC Entertainment. Additionally, Cookie Jar granted American Greetings a 10-year exclusive inbound licensing agreement for social expression products on all three properties.

"When Cookie Jar was founded we wanted to become an international power in children's entertainment programming," said Cookie Jar's CEO Michael Hirsh. "We have been filling Cookie Jar with great properties such as Caillou, Arthur, Johnny Test and The Doodlebops. The acquisition of DIC and now Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears makes us the fastest-growing independent player in the industry." (NOTE TO EDITORS: DIC acquisition announced today in a separate press release.)

Josef Mandelbaum from American Greetings added, "Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears have been synonymous with American Greetings for more than 25 years and are beloved by all. We are very confident that Cookie Jar will be able to take these two properties to new heights. This is a great outcome for our company and shareholders that has allowed us to realize significant value from all of our past efforts in these properties."

With the sale, American Greetings Properties -- the entertainment and licensing division of American Greetings - will continue its efforts further developing the licensing, marketing and promotional programs for its other franchises. These include the greeting card sensation Twisted Whiskers, 80's gross out sensation Mad Balls, Holly Hobbie, TinPo and its new preschool property Maryoku Yummy.

This acquisition, subject to customary closing conditions, is scheduled to close September 30, 2008.

Cookie Jar and American Greetings also announced that all litigation involving DIC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (DIC), the licensing agreement between American Greetings and DIC for Strawberry Shortcake, and Cookie Jar's acquisition of DIC has been dismissed.

About American Greetings Corporation

American Greetings Corporation (NYSE:AM) is one of the world's largest manufacturers of social expression products. Along with greeting cards, its product lines include gift wrap, party goods, stationery, calendars, ornaments, electronic greetings, personalized digital photo products and properties like Holly Hobbie, Twisted Whiskers, Madballs, Popples and Maryoku Yummy. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings generates revenue of approximately $1.8 billion. For more information on the Company, visit http://corporate.americangreetings.com/

About The Cookie Jar Group

The Cookie Jar Group ( http://www.thecookiejarcompany.com/ ) is a Canadian-based, privately-held entertainment and education company focused on providing compelling programming and materials for children. Cookie Jar's private equity sponsors are Birch Hill Equity Partners and OMERS Capital Partners. Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. and DIC Entertainment Holdings, Inc., the entertainment arms of Cookie Jar, are leading, global, independent producers, brand managers, marketers and distributors of such renowned children's properties as "The Doodlebops", "Caillou", "Hurray For Huckle!", "Johnny Test", "Magi-Nation", "Inspector Gadget", "Strawberry Shortcake", "Horseland", "Sabrina", "Madeline", "Liberty's Kids", "Sonic The Hedgehog" and "Care Bears". Through DIC, Cookie Jar is the worldwide licensor or agent for brands such as "McDonald's", "Strawberry Shortcake", "Madeline", "Mommy & Me", "The Beginner's Bible" and "Eloise".

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release pertaining to American Greetings (the "Company") may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historic or current facts. They use such words as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available information, but are subject to a variety of uncertainties, unknown risks and other factors concerning the Company's operations and business environment, which are difficult to predict and may be beyond the control of the Company. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements, and that could adversely affect the Company's future financial performance, include, the sale of the Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears properties. In addition, this release contains time-sensitive information that reflects management's best analysis as of the date of this release. American Greetings does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, information or circumstances that arise after the date of this release. Further information concerning issues that could materially affect financial performance related to forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 29, 2008.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: frank.cirillo@amgreetings.com

Source: American Greetings Corporation

CONTACT: Jeffrey Klein, Dan Klores Communications, +1-212-981-5189,
jeff_klein@dkcnews.com; Brook Hefner, Public Relations Manager,
+1-323-297-0065, bhefner@thecookiejarcompany.com; or Alex Radmanovich, PELICAN
Public Relations, +1-514-845-2949, aradman@rppelican.ca, both for Cookie Jar
Entertainment

Web site: http://www.americangreetings.com/
http://corporate.americangreetings.com/
http://www.thecookiejarcompany.com/

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