Completion of Sale

Character Group PLC 17 February 2006 Issued on behalf of The Character Group plc Date: Friday, 17 February 2006 IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Character Group plc ('The Group' or 'the Company') Completion of the Sale of the Group's Digital Business The Directors of The Character Group plc are pleased to announce that completion has taken place today of the sale of the digital products division of World Wide Licenses Limited ('WWL') and related assets (the 'Digital Business') to Flextronics Sales and Marketing (A-P) Limited ('Flextronics'). The total sale price is payable by Flextronics is approximately US$17.98 million which comprises goodwill of US$16 million and approximately US$1.98 million relating to the value of stocks and assets. The sum of approximately US$1.8 million has been retained by Flextronics until the first anniversary of completion as security in respect of any warranty or indemnity claims against WWL. The Group will continue to have a presence in Hong Kong, which, together with its new facilities in Shenzhen, China, will enable the Group to continue the growth of its Toys, Games and Gifts businesses in addition to managing the Hong Kong and Chinese logistics for the overall Group. Richard King, Executive Chairman of The Character Group, commented: 'We believe that the sale of the Digital Business will allow the Company to focus entirely upon the development of its Toys, Games and Gifts businesses and that Flextronics is uniquely placed to develop the Digital Business to a far higher level than the Group could have achieved in the same timescale.' 'The Board would like to put on record its thanks to Giovanni Tomaselli (the out-going Managing Director of WWL) and the rest of the Digital team in Hong Kong and China for their hard work over the past years and we wish them well for the future.' Editors Note: WWL is based in Hong Kong and until completion of the sale of the Digital Business was engaged in the design, development and manufacture of digital products, which principally consist of digital cameras. WWL entered the digital camera market in June 2000 and, until completion of the sale, was a significant supplier in this sector, with its total shipment to the date of completion of well in excess of two million digital cameras worldwide. In the financial year ended 31 August 2005, the Digital Business recorded profit before tax of approximately £0.8 million. Enquiries: Richard King, Executive Chairman Kiran Shah, Group Finance Director Fiona Tooley, Director The Character Group plc Citigate Dewe Rogerson Today Tel: +44 (0)208 949 5898 Tel: +44 (0) 121 455 8370 Mob: +44 (0)7785 703523 (FMT) www.thecharacter.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
UK 100