Saban Capital Group, a private investment firm founded by Haim Saban, has announced the formation of a new subsidiary, Saban Brands, dedicated to the development of a global brand licensing management business.

Saban Capital Group has allocated a sizeable capital investment of more than $500 million to this new entity, which will be used for the acquisition of global consumer brands and intellectual proprieties in various categories, including entertainment, fashion, lifestyle, celebrity and consumer brands.

Brand licensing veteran Elie Dekel was appointed president of Saban Brands, which will be headquartered in Los Angeles. Dekel, who most recently served as executive vice president of licensing and merchandising for Twentieth Century Fox, previously worked with Saban Entertainment beginning in 1989 in various roles, including president of consumer products for Fox Family Worldwide.

"The formation of Saban Brands enables us to utilize our extensive experience to create and grow compelling global properties that reach into every aspect of consumers' lives through strategic and far-reaching licensing partnerships. As media and consumer options become increasingly fragmented and proliferated, our underlying thesis is that properties that resonate with consumers today will only become more meaningful over time," says Haim Saban, chairman and chief executive officer of Saban Capital Group. "We are committing significant investment capital to Saban Brands and have great confidence in Elie and his executive team as they build a leading global intellectual property company." 

Saban Brands, which will be exhibiting at the Licensing International Expo June 8 to 10 in Las Vegas, is in the process of building an executive team and researching potential brand acquisitions. This investment by Saban Capital represents a major commitment to the development of a potentially powerful portfolio considering the most recent acquisition of United Media (Peanuts) by Iconix Brand Group for $175 million.

The creation of Saban Brands reflects the trend in brand licensing of creating a management company to develop properties worldwide, as well as the significance of licensing and merchandising as a key business model that is increasingly important to major retailers and embraced by consumers.

Says Dekel: "Saban Brands represents a new approach to brand management and licensing. Leveraging our unique capabilities, significant resources and transmedia orientation, Saban Brands is poised to become a force of innovation and opportunity."

Dekel believes the timing is right for this ambitious start-up venture in the marketplace and he is confident that Saban brings "a unique set of skills, resources and capabilities that really can help brands to evolve into a new and different position in the market."

Haim Saban is well known in the licensing sector as the founder of Fox Family Worldwide (owned in partnership with News Corp), which was sold to The Walt Disney Company in 2001. He is also widely known as the executive that created and produced the Power Rangers franchise in the 1990s.