The deals just keep on piling up for Nick’s Bikini Bottom-dwelling sponge, whose 10th anniversary celebrations are proving to be compelling for licensees in all corners of the world.

NVCP Germany has signed a pair of two-year deals that will bring product into Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Music company Sony BMG is set to launch an official SpongeBob SquarePants half-hour soundtrack on 13 March, backed by significant TV advertising. The disk will be available at department stores, drug stores, toy shops, music retailers, mass-market chains and online.

Meanwhile, tea-maker H&S Tee-Gesellschaft is making sure consumers can have their sponge and drink it too, with a new line of fruit-flavored branded teas, from pineapple and melon, rolling out at local supermarkets.

Over in the Netherlands, NVCP Benelux has signed on new licensee Hidalgo to release a line of licensed canvas messenger bags featuring SpongeBob SquarePants, Avatar the Last Airbender, Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! The Nick bags will be available from mid-April on through Nick’s local webshop www.nickshop.nl.