Rights & Brands, the global licensing agency promoting art, literature and design brands, is expanding its North American presence with the opening of R&B USA, its new U.S. office in Los Angeles. This marks an important step in the company’s ambition to bring stories that matter to new audiences around the world, with Moomin and Pippi Longstocking leading its focus in the American market.

R&B USA, formally registered as R & B Licensing Inc., will strengthen Rights & Brands’ local presence and support the development of long-term partnerships with licensees, retailers, agents and other strategic partners across North America.

The expansion supports Rights & Brands’ long-term strategy to build a global, value-driven licensing platform for brands rooted in culture, art and storytelling, guided by its mission: “Stewards of stories that matter.”

Building Moomin’s presence in the U.S.

Moomin is a key focus for the U.S. operation as Rights & Brands builds on the brand’s growing presence through successful partnerships with companies such as Lush, BonBon NYC, Barnes & Noble, and Aurora. With a new Moomin animated feature film from Annapurna planned for 2030, R&B sees an opportunity to further develop Moomin’s U.S. presence and aims to build stronger relationships with partners and create new opportunities ahead of the film’s release.

“We are thrilled to see new American fans discover the Moomins at an unprecedented rate, and are excited to build out the brand presence in the US with companies that share our ethos of storytelling. There is tremendous potential and a real need for wholesome, whimsical, legacy content. We will continue to invest at an increasing rate in experiences that delight fans, new and old and are excited for this next chapter in the U.S.” Thomas Zambra, CEO of R & B Licensing Inc., says.

Roleff Kråkström, CEO of R & B Licensing AB and Moomin Characters, adds: “We see significant opportunities for our brands in North America. Moomin’s brand awareness in the U.S. has increased by 4% in less than a year, alongside strong sales performance. With a local presence, we can build on this momentum and positionourselves to develop publishing programs and master license contracts directly from the U.S. This is an important step in our ambition to grow globally while remaining true to the stories and cultural legacies we represent.”

Expanding Pippi Longstocking’s reach

Alongside Moomin, Pippi Longstocking, the iconic character created by author Astrid Lindgren, will be another key focus for R&B USA. With new screen adaptations in development, including a TV series and feature film produced by StudioCanal, Rights & Brands sees opportunities to expand Pippi’s reach and develop new partnerships that connect the character with new audiences in the U.S.

Together, Moomin and Pippi Longstocking represent the kind of enduring stories at the heart of Rights & Brands’ portfolio: characters with deep cultural roots who resonate across generations and borders. R&B USA is now officially open for business at Groundfloor Club, Office B, 160 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026.

About Rights & Brands

Rights & Brands is a global agency promoting art, literature and design brands that aim to inspire audiences with stories and a vision for a better world.

Rights & Brands operates a worldwide network of 20 sub-agents and 900 clients, representing iconic brands, artists, and authors. R&B is the worldwide master agenton behalf of Moomin Characters and represents the likes of Astrid Lindgren, Stig Lindberg, Carl Larsson-gården Sundborn, Ilon Wikland, The Smurfs, Tove Jansson, Sam Wilde, Sofie Sarenbrant and many more.

R&B is ranked as the top 19 licensing agency worldwide, with an estimated retail value of 930M Euro. We develop and create collaborations with leading brands such as Acne Studios, Uniqlo, Patou, Fiskars Group, H&M, RIMOWA and Finnair. Rights & Brands headquarters is in Stockholm, with local branches in Helsinki, Oslo, Hong Kong, London and Tokyo. R&B was founded in 2016 and has a yearly turnover of over 320M SEK.