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Crunchyroll Finalizes Deal to Become Majority Owner of Viz Media Europe Group
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Crunchyroll and Viz Media Europe announced on Wednesday that they have finalized the deal for Crunchyroll to become the majority owner of Viz Media Europe Group. The companies announced the agreement in September.
Crunchyroll and Viz Media Europe Group also announced that they appointed John Easum in the new role of Head of Crunchyroll EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).
The Hitotsubashi Group — consisting of Shueisha, Inc., Shogakukan, Inc., Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd. — will retain a minority stake in Viz Media Europe Group. Additionally, Shogakukan and Shueisha Group will retain complete ownership of Viz Media Europe's publishing business through VME PLB SAS, a new company that Shogakukan and Shueisha Group created. The new company will license manga for the EMEA and Latin American regions, with Kazuyoshi Takeuchi as president and Kazuyuki Masuda as managing director.
Viz Media Europe Group is comprised of Viz Media Europe Group, AV Visionen, Anime Versand, VIZ Media Switzerland, KAZÉ, KAZÉ Manga, Anime on Demand, and Anime Digital Network (in partnership with the Média-Participations subsidiary Citel).
Source: Press release
