Viz Media’s parent companies forge new partnership

San Francisco, California-based VIZ Media's parent company Shueisha has made an investment in Shogakukan Production, the licensing and merchandising subsidiary of Japanese publisher and VIZ co-parent, Shogakukan Inc.

June 20, 2008

San Francisco, California-based VIZ Media’s parent company Shueisha has made an investment in Shogakukan Production, the licensing and merchandising subsidiary of Japanese publisher and VIZ co-parent, Shogakukan Inc.

ShoPro will be renamed Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co. The deal gives the companies more flexibility in developing titles for export outside of Japan, including the graphic novel/manga market in North America and Europe.

Since its founding in 1967, ShoPro has handled a variety of manga properties, such as Pokémon, Doraemon and Megaman as well as other third-party licenses for the Japanese market.

About The Author

Gary Rusak is a freelance writer based in Toronto. He has covered the kids entertainment industry for the last decade with a special interest in licensing, retail and consumer products. You can reach him at garyrusak@gmail.com

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