APD to distribute Hello Kitty magazines & activity books in English and Arabic, engaging school children this summer

Dubai, UAE, June 10, 2015: Al Ahli Holding Group (AAHG), a UAE-based multi-diversified international conglomerate has entered into a strategic tie-up with Japan’s Sanrio through its recently launched subsidiary Al Ahli Publishing and Distribution (APD).  

After its successful tie up with Marvel earlier this year, APD has acquired the publishing rights to intellectual properties of Sanrio’s most prominent character ‘Hello Kitty’. As part of this tie up, the company has released Hello Kitty coloring magazine and activity books targeting school children. 

“Al Ahli Holding Group’s strategic tie-up with Sanrio, a world renowned organisation with its Hello Kitty brand makes it an ideal intellectual property targeting school children that allows them to engage in interactive and educative activities with lots of fun. We intend to bring various popular intellectual properties from across the world that can be translated in Arabic or customised to suit the sensibilities of Arabic consumers,” said Mr Abdulla Mahmood, Director, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Al Ahli Holding Group. 

Japan-based Sanrio’s most popular character Hello Kitty has inspired a wide spectrum of products. As part of Sanrio’s tie-up with AAHG’s new subsidiary APD, the company’s intellectual property will be published and distributed across 12 countries. APD’s distribution channel covers Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria. In the UAE, APD comic books are available at leading book stores, supermarkets and gas stations nationwide.

The company has initiated a series of events to promote children’s comics and activity books. The first of its plans, a special summer workshop for children is being held every Saturday post 5 pm at the Dubai Outlet Mall’s children’s play area. 

“This summer, we are engaging school children in theme-based fun workshops through our interactive Hello Kitty collections, available for them exclusively in English and Arabic. The Hello Kitty range of books ensures that children are engrossed in storytelling, coloring books, sticker books and many other activities,” said Mr Zuhair Ayoubi, General Manager, Retail and Licensing, AAHG.

For ages five and above, APD has released the Hello Kitty Mini magazines, the Hello Kitty Teens for ages 12 and above and many bilingual sticker books too. 
Al Ahli Publishing and Distribution was initiated as part of the vision of His Highness Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to promote Arabic culture and language which is currently being carried forward by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. 

The recent efforts of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum that aimed at establishing UAE as a global centre of excellence for the Arabic language also inspired AAHG to introduce international comic books in Arabic. 

APD is also the first company ever to secure rights to translate in the Persian language. The company publishes popular international comics that have been the pop-culture phenomena over the years. It will also launch collector’s series and Master works editions of various titles shortly.