Joint venture to publish Japanese comics, Korean comics, light novels and other content for the global French-speaking market
© Kadokawa © Éditions Dupuis SA © Média-Participations Paris
Kadokawa announced on January 25 that it is partnering with European publishing-based entertainment group Média-Participations Paris and its subsidiary Éditions Dupuis to form a joint venture business called Vega SAS with the current Vega-Dupuis imprint has Dupuis’s. Kadokawa will acquire 51% of the business of publisher Vega-Dupuis and Dupuis will own the remaining 49%.
The joint venture will publish Japanese and Korean comics, light novels and other content for the global French-language market under the Vega-Dupuis imprint. The publisher will focus on Kadokawa titles but will also publish content from other Japanese and Korean publishers. The joint venture announcement also mentioned “creating original manga adaptations of European IPs”.
The announcement said manga sales have quadrupled in France over the past decade and that one in every seven books sold in the country is manga.
Média-Participations Paris is the third largest publishing company in France. It publishes in print as well as e-books and vertical scrolling comics. The company also has its own animation production and video game development operations.
Kadokawa and Indonesian media company Gramedia announced on January 5 that they will establish a joint venture company called PT Phoenix Gramedia Indonesia to jointly develop the manga and light novel publishing business, as well as selling merchandise and operating a digital publishing platform. Kadokawa maintains a majority 51% stake in the new company, while PT Gramedia Asri Media maintains a 49% stake. Gramedia is the largest publisher in Indonesia, owning and operating the country’s largest bookstore chain.
Kadokawa similarly announced on December 22 that its Thai subsidiary Kadokawa Amarin had acquired a majority stake in Thai manga and light novel localization and publishing company First Page Pro. , making the company a subsidiary of Kadokawa Amarin. The move made Kadokawa Amarin the largest light novel and manga publisher in Thailand.
Source: Kadokawa
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.