Character World Brands, a Division of Bioworld, Acquires Björna and CTI to Accelerate European Expansion

Acquisitions strengthen the group’s presence across Europe, expanding its in-territory capabilities for licensing and retail partners.

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Character World Brands, a division of Bioworld, today announces the acquisitions of Björna, a Danish home textiles specialist, and Chaulnes Textile Industries (CTI), a French home textiles company. Announced to coincide with Brand Licensing Europe in London, the acquisitions bring together complementary businesses to support the group’s next phase of growth across Europe and beyond.

The transactions build on the momentum of Character World Brands, which has delivered year-on-year growth of more than 40% since joining Bioworld in March 2025. With Björna and CTI, the group strengthens its regional expertise, retail relationships, and product development capabilities, supported by Bioworld’s global sourcing, distribution, and commercial infrastructure.

Both companies are established partners of Character World Brands. Björna brings deep relationships with Nordic retailers and expertise in sourcing and design. CTI brings more than four decades of market leading experience in bedding and home accessories in France, and a complementary portfolio of licensed products as well as establishing its own award-winning brand of textiles with Matt & Rose.

“Since joining Bioworld, we’ve been able to invest in our ambitions and move faster on opportunities for our partners,” said James Walker, CEO of Character World Brands. “Björna and CTI are both market-leading businesses we know well, with talented teams who understand their markets and customers. Bringing our capabilities together will help us develop stronger collections, serve more retailers, and give our licensing partners greater reach across Europe. We will continue to invest in the technology and processes from Bioworld that have helped enable more than 40% growth this year. ”

The expanded group will combine design and licensing expertise with established routes to market into the EU. For brand owners, this creates opportunities to develop full home solutions across more territories, informed by local consumer preferences and retail requirements. For retailers, it brings broader product expertise and the resources to develop and deliver collections at greater scale and speed.

The acquisitions also provide a stronger European foundation for collaboration with Bioworld’s US business, creating opportunities to introduce products and brand partnerships to new audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Björna and CTI bring the local knowledge, relationships, and capabilities that are essential to building a global business,” said Matt Alexander, VP of Corporate Development for Bioworld. “Our approach is to back strong teams with the resources to do more. Together with Character World Brands, these businesses give us a stronger foundation in Europe and more ways to help our brand and retail partners grow.”

The acquisitions advance Bioworld’s Brand Growth Platform strategy, which brings together creative, commercial, operational, and financial capabilities to help brands grow across categories, channels, and markets. Through its operations in the US, UK, Europe, Canada, China, and India, Bioworld connects specialist businesses with the infrastructure and expertise to support expansion.

ABOUT BIOWORLD

Bioworld is a global Brand Growth Platform that helps the world’s most iconic brands, creators and entertainment properties translate cultural relevance into meaningful consumer growth. Through an integrated model spanning product design, licensing, sourcing, manufacturing, retail strategy, digital commerce, content and marketplace insights, Bioworld develops and scales consumer products across more than 30 categories and every major level of retail distribution.

Founded in 2000 as a headwear company, Bioworld has evolved into a multi-category global platform serving consumers across mass, specialty, boutique, marketplace and e-commerce environments. By bringing creative, commercial and operational capabilities together under one organization, Bioworld helps partners expand into new categories, reach new audiences and build stronger connections with fans around the world. Headquartered in the U.S., with offices in Europe, China, India and Canada, Bioworld combines global scale with local market expertise to support brand growth across markets, channels and consumer touchpoints.

For more information, visit bioworldmerch.com.

ABOUT CHARACTER WORLD BRANDS

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in the UK, Character World Brands is a leading licensed home category business, bringing entertainment, gaming, and sports brands to life through home and lifestyle collections. Combining expertise in design, licensing, sourcing, and retail partnerships, the company creates products that connect fans of all ages with the brands they love. Character World Brands has been part of Bioworld since March 2025.

For more information, visit characterworld.com.