It seems almost silly to think that a soft-spoken Peruvian bear in a red hat could be one of the most reliable sources of income in British entertainment. Watching Canal+ choose the London Stock Exchange for its market debut—with Paddington being called its crown jewel—it is hard to say that isn’t true. A French media company worth up to €6 billion chooses London in part because of a bear. This makes you wonder what they know that the rest of the market is just starting to understand.
Canal+, a streaming service that was created from Vivendi’s media group, opened for business in London in late 2024. Its subsidiary StudioCanal owns the rights to a lot of movies, like Total Recall, Bridget Jones, Shaun the Sheep, and the biopic Back to Black about Amy Winehouse. But when Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada talks about what’s most important, the language changes significantly. The man said of Paddington, “This is really our most prized intellectual property.” He also said that the company is “very careful about being very close to its roots.” That’s not typical business modesty. That business is telling investors exactly where the real value is.
The unique thing about Paddington, even in a strong catalog, is the way it stays stable. Most entertainment IP is unstable by nature, because of things like tired franchises, recasting controversies, and changing cultural tastes. Paddington avoids a lot of that. Action scenes or shock value don’t make the character interesting. It’s based on trust, warmth, and something that works a lot like trust. Television viewers in their 40s remember the animated show. The first two movies were watched by their kids. These movies are now being watched by a third generation. That level of loyalty that spans generations is really rare, and it usually directly leads to long-term business value.
The franchise also has a very smart way of making money. The three movies have done well in theaters, but what’s going on around them is what’s really interesting. The IP strategy is similar to what the movie business learned from franchises like Star Wars and Frozen: that the licensing deals, branded goods, and immersive experiences are often more important than the money made at the box office. For decades, Paddington merchandise has been sold in stores all over the UK, and that’s not by accident. The franchise makes money from plush toys, clothing, home goods, and experiences in ways that don’t make headlines but add up over time thanks to strong trademark portfolios that are registered across multiple product categories.
American companies reportedly told Saada that Paddington was “not American enough” to make the most money at the box office. This meant that the character needed to be changed in order for the movie to do better in the marketplace. He said no. There is a feeling that this choice, despite the short-term costs, has been good for business. It turns out that authenticity isn’t just a creative quality. It’s good for the brand. The character’s Britishness is exactly what makes it easy to sell abroad. Canal+ is available in 50 countries and has 27 million subscribers, most of whom are not in France. Paddington goes on trips because it doesn’t try to be someone else.
For the London Stock Exchange, which has had a really rough few years losing companies like Ashtead and Arm to overseas listings and having what economists call its worst departure rate since the 2008 financial crisis, the listing of Canal+ is more than just a single company. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, called it “a vote of confidence” in the London market. This is what politicians say when they are happy that something worked. No matter how you look at it, the fact that confidence in London comes from believing in a made-up bear from Peru is either funny or telling.
Reports say that Paddington 4 and an animated series are both being worked on. To put it another way, the franchise is not just sitting back. It’s getting bigger. That difference is more important than it might seem in the British creative economy, which has a hard time turning cultural love into long-lasting economic infrastructure.
