Good grief—it seems that Charlie Brown could very well wind up in an Ed Hardy t-shirt.

Iconix Brand Group, the listed, New York-based brand holding company, bought the Peanuts characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in a partnership with the famous Snoopy creator’s family in a $175 million deal. The Peanuts brand will be owned 80% by Iconix and 20% by the Schulz family.

Iconix shares have been up more than 45% over 2010 and shares traded up four percent Monday, prior to the deal’s announcement.

The EW Scripps Co., the listed print media company, sold the cartoon’s assets to Iconix, which will no doubt look to integrate the seemingly timeless cast of characters into its already-robust lines of clothing and capitalize on their entertainment and advertising value as well. Scripps shares have traded almost as well as Iconix’s in 2010, and are up more than 40% on the year.

The Peanuts brand is licensed in over 40 countries and generates more than $2 billion in revenue annually.

"One of the primary movers of intellectual property is the proliferation of distribution platforms," said one source familiar with the deal. "Digital platforms provide a host of new ways to exploit content."

Cravath, Swaine & Moore partners Faiza J. Saeed and Thomas E. Dunn advised the Schulz family on the deal. EW Scripps was represented by Baker Hostetler, led by partner Steven H. Goldberg.

One of Iconix’s recent purchases was a $17 million deal for a stake in Hardy Way LLC, maker of the Ed Hardy clothing line. The company also owns brands Candie's, Bongo, Badgley Mischka, Joe Boxer, Rampage, Mudd, London Fog, Mossimo, Ocean Pacific/OP, Danskin, Rocawear, Cannon, Royal Velvet, Fieldcrest, Charisma, Starter and Waverly. It licenses products directly to retailers, wholesalers and suppliers across a wide range of product categories, including apparel, footwear, sportswear, fashion accessories, home products and decor, and beauty and fragrance.

The brand buyer is looking to go global, it revealed in 2009. Iconix partnered with The Licensing Co. to form Iconix Europe; an investment group led by TLC and Albion Equity Partners bought into the partnership for $4 million and got a 50% stake; Iconix keeps the other half of the joint venture.

Iconix was recently rumored to have been looking for a deal in the media space that would have had it buying Playboy Enterprises, but reports indicate that talks stalled.

In November 2009, Iconix also bought a controlling interest in Ecko Brands for about $64 million.

With companies’ and IP values hammered down by the recession, financially-stronger buyers have stepped up to acquire properties cheaply. Disney’s deal to buy Marvel in 2009 has the already massive entertainment company expanding with the rights to the successful comic-book-turned-film franchise.

Other dealmaking opportunities are still available; entertainment management group CKX, owners of the majority of Elvis’ name and likeness, is reportedly shopping itself for sale.

Technology