Nickelodeon issued a press release today announcing their acquisition of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license from The Mirage Group (who released the computer-animated film TMNT in 2007). From the release:

Furthering its mission to provide premium content to its audiences, Nickelodeon--part of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc.--has acquired the global rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from The Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. The acquisition provides Nickelodeon, the world's number-one entertainment brand for kids, global intellectual property rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the hit television, film and video game property that has delighted kids around the world for the last 25 years. The aggregate purchase price for the transactions is approximately $60 million.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences," said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. "We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus on this property and creatively re-introduce it to a new generation of kids."

Plans for the brand's future include an all-new computer-generated cartoon series on Nickelodeon, a live-action movie (tentatively slated for 2012) and new Playmates toys based on the franchise. The current "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series will continue to air on "TheCW4Kids" Saturday mornings until August 31, 2010. The full press release can be read here.