Collectibles Firm Franklin Mint Sold to Investor Group

The Franklin Mint, which sells collectibles via a variety of direct response channels, has itself been sold by Roll International Corp. The buyer was a group of investors led by M. Moshe Malamud and Steven J. Sisskind, and including Hollywood producer David E. Salzman, as well as a number of individuals within a variety of media, philatelic, numismatic and library concerns. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Malamud will serve as Chairman and Sisskind will act as CEO of The Franklin Mint, the same positions they hold at The Morgan Mint, a stamp and coin marketing company that specializes in commemorative coins and medallic art.

In addition to the 12,000 products within Franklin Mint archives, the new owners took possession of digital assets, a customer database, intellectual property and exclusive product licensing agreements with Harley-Davidson, The Smithsonian Institute, GM, Ford, the estates of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and others.

The new owners' initial plans include introducing new limited edition products starting in early 2007, as well as re-issuing some of The Franklin Mint's classic products.

The Franklin Mint was founded in 1964 by Joseph Segel, who also launched home-shopping channel QVC. It was sold to Warner Communications Inc. in 1981. In 1986, Roll International owners Lynda and Stewart Resnick--whose holdings include FIJI Water, POM Wonderful and Teleflora--purchased it from Warner.