08/18/2009

Masterbrand Licensing Appoints Brand Sense Partners as Exclusive Brand Extension Agency Representing Beverly Hills Country Club

Los Angeles, CA (August 18, 2009) – Masterbrand Licensing, the operating entity created to extend the world’s most distinctive country club, Beverly Hills Country Club (BHCC), has appointed Los Angeles-based Brand Sense Partners (BSP) to manage the apparel concept development and licensing of the BHCC brand.

Established in 1926, Beverly Hills Country Club is the world’s most distinctive country club. In its founding days, the Club attracted luminaries such as Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn to the tennis courts, Tarzan actor and Olympic swimmer Johnny Weismeuller to the swimming pool and all of Hollywood to the legendary Friday Night Soirees. Through the years, the Club has become a coveted private social and sporting outpost for the community’s top business, entertainment, sports and social leaders and their families. In its evolution as a lifestyle brand, access to Beverly Hills Country Club is now being extended worldwide to those whose personal style reflects a commitment to well-being, the expression of effortless elegance and the convergence of happiness, health, fitness and fashion.

A leading agency engaged in brand development and licensing representation of an impressive portfolio of consumer products, entertainment and celebrity clients, Brand Sense Partners will develop and manage the BHCC worldwide licensing program leveraging their team’s extensive experience. BHCC will benefit from BSP’s in-house apparel concept and merchandising group, The POP Studio, which is led by former Abercrombie and Fitch Global Conceptual Director, John Moore.

“No words are more synonymous with success, beauty and style than ‘Beverly Hills’ and ‘Country Club’ said Ramez Toubassy, BSP President. We are honored to be working with the Beverly Hills Country Club brand to develop a world-class brand extension program that revolves around the notion of modern country club living with a nod to the romantic nature of the past.”

“After conducting our due-diligence, we are excited to be working with Brand Sense Partners to steward the Beverly Hills Country Club brand well into the 21st century and extend the ‘good life’ to all corners of the globe. We are impressed with BSP’s unique approach to expanding lifestyle brands and are confident that the collective efforts of BSP, POP Studio and Masterbrand will firmly plant the BHCC flag in the branded products world. We look forward to a long and successful partnership with this world-class firm,” said James D. Richwine, CEO of Masterbrand Licensing.

Brand Sense Partners has already commenced discussions with potential partners in the following product categories: apparel, footwear, fashion accessories, swimwear, optical, fragrance & beauty, bedding & bath textiles, tabletop, home furnishings & décor, furniture and luggage & travel accessories. For licensing inquiries, please contact Scott Minker, Senior Director of Business Development at 310-867-7222.

About Brand Sense Partners, LLC

Established in 2001, Brand Sense Partners, LLC (BSP) is a strategic new business development consultancy with an integrated turnkey infrastructure designed to execute the firm’s recommendations. BSP fosters growth in new categories of business for its clients by leveraging brand equity and other strategic assets. Clients focus on their core businesses while BSP’s team of industry experts develops the strategy through market research and in-depth analysis, negotiates the deals and manages the new lines of business. The BSP approach reduces capital costs, risk and time to market resulting in new, profitable and accelerated growth for its clients. Headquartered in Los Angeles, BSP manages more than 200 partnerships for its Fortune 500 clients with approximately $1.5 Billion in retail sales in the consumer products, media, technology, celebrity and fashion industries. For more information, please visit www.bsp.com.

About Masterbrand Licensing International, LLC

Masterbrand Licensing International, LLC, was founded in 2006 to manage the acceleration of the renowned Beverly Hills Country Club brand. Led by lifestyle brand and business growth professionals Jim Richwine, David Fergusson, Mossimo Giannulli, and Erik Zajaceskowski, the Company is partnering together with leading category licensees to extend the brand across an extensive range of new products and services in both the United States and International markets.