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Kodansha Acquires Ichijinsha, Makes It Into Subsidiary Company

Japanese publisher Kodansha announced on Friday that it has acquired publisher Ichijinsha, purchasing all of the company's stocks and making Ichijinsha into a wholly-owned subsidiary. Kodansha made the announcement during a press conference on Friday.

Kodansha stated in the announcement, "We believe this decision will foster the strengths of both companies in comic genres, exhibit synergy, and contribute a large effect in revitalizing the manga market."

Ichijinsha was founded in August 1992 as a manga editing company, and began publishing manga in 1998. The publisher merged with publishing company Issaisha in 2001, from which it acquired the Monthly Comic Zero-Sum magazine. Ichijinsha also publishes such magazines as Comic Rex, Comic Yuri Hime, gateau, Manga 4-Koma Palette, Comic POOL, and Febri. The company also publishes such manga as Saiyuki Reload Blast, Yuruyuri, Otaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii, Citrus, and Masamune-kun's Revenge. Ichijinsha additionally publishes light novels.

Ichijinsha has 95 employees as of October 1, and its capital stock is worth 10 million yen (about US$96,100). The company's yearly sales between August 2015 and July 2016 is projected at 4.4 billion yen (US$42.3 million). Kodansha has 906 employees as of October 1, and its capital stock is worth 300 million yen (about US$2.88 million). The company's yearly sales between December 2014 and November 2015 were 116.8 billion yen (about US$1.12 billion).

Source: Comic Natalie