Michael Hirsh is saying very little - yea or nay - following reports that his Cookie Jar Group is preparing to go public.

The Toronto-based CEO was quoted in a July 14 story in The Globe and Mail saying he'd like to put the children's entertainment and education giant up for an IPO as early as this fall. But in a later interview with Playback, a tight-lipped Hirsh said going public is just "one of the key opportunities we're exploring."

He did not elaborate about Cookie Jar's other options.

"Nothing definite has been decided," he said, though he noted that an IPO could possibly come "as early as late 2006."

Certainly, the Montreal outfit has the properties to catch the eye of any prospective shareholder. Its lead brand - the live-action children's variety show The Doodlebops - runs on CBC and the Disney Channels in the U.S. and U.K., and has begun taping its third season. In September, the Doodlebop characters will launch a 70-city tour to help build their U.S. fan base.

Cookie Jar's two other headline productions are also going strong. Spider Riders, an animation action series coproduced with Japan's Yomiko, has inked a deal with Mattel to create a line of action figures. And Caillou, about the adventures of a four-year-old boy, is entering its 10th season on PBS.

Cookie Jar is also in the process of selling off its 20% share of Teletoon to Corus Entertainment and Astral Media for $96 million, a deal now under review at the CRTC.

"We foresee no problems with the sale," says Hirsh.

Furthermore, Cookie Jar is also moving forward on a new educational digichannel - Academy TV - that is slated to launch in 2007 following CRTC approval earlier this year.

The company's current incarnation took shape in 2003, when Hirsh, a former top exec at Nelvana, and a group of equity investors purchased the troubled animation giant Cinar for $144 million and relaunched it as Cookie Jar. A separate management arm handles the old firm's lingering legal entanglements.

www.cinar.com