HIT Entertainment, one of the world’s leading independent children’s producers and rights owners, today announced an internal realignment of its business units to increase its brand focus.

The realignment involves the creation of four new divisions that will form two new lines of business – one focusing on ‘Thomas & Friends’ and the other on “HIT Global Brands” (‘Angelina Ballerina’, ‘Barney’, ‘Bob the Builder’, ‘Fireman Sam’, ‘Pingu’ and ‘Rainbow Magic’).

The ‘Thomas & Friends’ line of business will comprise three divisions: the New York-based ‘Thomas Americas’ headed by Pam Westman (which will focus on North and South America), the London-based ‘Thomas EMEA’ headed by Rick Glankler (which will focus on the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa) and the Hong Kong-based ‘Thomas Asia’ headed by Antonio Huab (which will focus on Asia, including Australia and Japan). Westman, Glankler and Huab will all report to Sangeeta Desai, HIT’s Chief Operating Officer.

The ‘HIT Global Brands’ business will be managed from London by Jon Owen as one global division. He will also have local staff based in New York, London and Hong Kong reporting to him. Mr. Owen will also report to Ms. Desai.

HIT’s Finance, Legal, HR and IT groups will remain centralised staff units supporting both lines of business.

Jeff Dunn, President & CEO, HIT Entertainment said: “This new organisation is the logical next step in the evolution of our brand management strategy. It will allow us to bring greater focus and attention to all of our brands, which are at different stages in their lifecycle and therefore require different resources to maximise their potential.”

The realignment will take immediate effect.

As part of this organisational restructuring, Peter Byrne, EVP of International Consumer Products and Home Entertainment, will be leaving the company. “Peter is one of the most accomplished executives in the licensing industry and has served HIT both loyally and well,” commented Jeff Dunn. “We will miss him and wish this talented individual well in his next endeavour,” said Mr. Dunn.