Filmation acquisition

I am amazed old Heapo didn't post the following tip from the Mail on Sunday:

Entertainment Rights
Share price 14p
Market value £57.8m

IT should be another eventful year for Entertainment Rights, owner of children's characters Postman Pat and Basil Brush. Though the company failed in its latest bid to buy rival Chorion, whose characters include Noddy, the benefits of other deals should come through.

These include the acquisition of Filmation, whose library of 500 hours of animation contains classic American characters such as the Lone Ranger and He-Man.

Entertainment Rights hopes the deal will pave the way to selling entertainment packages to digital children's channels, and help to introduce Postman Pat and Basil Brush to the key American market. The shares look cheap on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of nine, with house broker Collins Stewart predicting profits will quadruple to £6.5m in 2005.

All this is dependent, of course, on the company ridding itself of its hugely expensive top management.