by Sanrio signed a capital and business alliance agreement with IG Port Co., Ltd., a major anime production company, on the 17th. As a result, Sanrio will acquire 1,008,000 shares of IG Port for approximately 1.76 billion yen on July 3rd and is expected to hold 4.98% of the total issued shares.
IG Port is a major animation production company that owns Production IG and WIT STUDIO. Its representative works include Kimi ni Todoke, Haikyu!!, Kaiju No. 8, Attack on Titan, Ghost in the Shell, and SPY×FAMILY produce and develop copyright businesses for these popular works. Meanwhile, Sanrio owns the rights to familiar Sanrio characters, such as Hello Kitty and My Melody, and is engaged in the licensing business.
The partnership between the two companies will see Sanrio investing in IG Port through a third-party allotment of new shares and a transfer of shares from IG Port’s President and CEO, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa. With this capital participation, Sanrio, which develops the character business, and the IG Port Group, which produces videos, will build a strategic collaborative relationship.
The two companies will collaborate on “filming” and “merchandising.”
As a potential collaboration in this capital and business alliance, IG Port’s production company has mentioned the possibility of adapting Sanrio characters’ content into films and animations. “By broadcasting and distributing animations, we will further increase the IP’s recognition not only in the Japanese market but also in overseas markets, mainly North America and Europe, and deepen the brand image and worldview of the characters,” he explained his intention, and commented, “We will make appropriate announcements in the future when the specific production contents and release date are decided.” Meanwhile, IG Port’s approach to Sanrio is to turn characters appearing in IG Port’s productions into products and games, utilizing Sanrio’s established business base.
This initiative aims to attract new fans and generate business opportunities. The two companies also agreed to consider “joint creation, development, acquisition and nurturing of new IP.” In particular, they aim to establish an IP business centered on producing video content tailored to the needs of the North American market. Sanrio’s President Tomokuni Tsuji and IG Port’s President Mitsuhisa Ishikawa each expressed their expectations for the alliance.
