Authentic Brands Groups makes first foray into family entertainment with acquisition of Care Bears IP

Image: Care bears

Global brand development and management company Authentic Brands Group (“Authentic”) is buying the intellectual property (IP) of the Care Bears for an undisclosed sum from current owners, IVEST Consumer Partners and Cloverlay.

Authentic is one of the world’s largest owners of intellectual property, with a diversified portfolio of more than 50 brands. It owns or manages fashion, personality, and media brands including Reebok, David Beckham, Sports Illustrated, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, Marilyn Monroe, and Hunter Boots.

In a statement on the Care Bears acquisition, Authentic says it has “built a modern entertainment platform that accelerates IP through content, experiences and global commerce. Care Bears fits squarely within this asset-rich platform, expanding Authentic’s presence in family entertainment and character IP.”

Care Bears were originally created in the early 1980s as characters for a range of greeting cards; they soon transitioned into plush toys and later animated kids TV shows and films. They have grown over the past 40+ years into an international entertainment franchise, generating more than $12 billion in lifetime retail sales.

The brand includes more than 100 bears, each representing a distinct emotion or expression, including Cheer Bear, Funshine Bear and Grumpy Bear, all with heart-shaped spaces in their stomachs bearing the particular character’s icon. Care Bears merchandise and programming are available in more than 190 countries. Care Bears media content includes short-form animations, gaming, live experiences, and film.

Corey Salter, CEO of Authentic’s Entertainment division, says:

“Care Bears is the gold standard of family entertainment. It arrives with a nearly 45-year history of genuine emotional connection, an active content pipeline, a vast network of more than 500 licensing partners and a devoted fanbase that keeps growing. Our opportunity is not simply to steward the brand and its message of positivity; it’s to bring Care Bears into Authentic’s powerful platform and write the next great chapter in one of entertainment’s most enduring franchises.”

Authentic Studios and Authentic Live, divisions of Authentic Brands Group, will play central roles in extending the Care Bears universe through new stories, audiences, and fan experiences.

In a statement, Ivest and Cloverlay said that since 2023, when it bought the brand from the Weiss family (which had owned it for more than 40 years), Care Bears annual revenue has increased by four times, “and is on track to exceed $750 million in retail sales by year-end 2026.”

While no figure for the Authentic acquisition has been given, the Ivest/Cloverlay statement points out that “as relevant market context, Peanuts, a highly comparable evergreen character brand, was sold in December 2025 for C$630 million, representing approximately 23x EBITDA.”

IVEST is a private equity sponsor focused on licensing, intellectual property, and consumer products. Cloverlay describes itself as an independent asset manager focused on niche investment opportunities in properties with tangible and intangible assets in “opaque and inefficient market segments.”

The acquisition remains subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.