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Kadokawa Group to Merge ASCII, MediaWorks Subsidiaries
posted on by Egan Loo
Kadokawa Group Holdings announced on September 27 that it began discussions to merge its consolidated subsidiaries ASCII and MediaWorks. ASCII publishes magazines and books on information technology such as the Monthly ASCII magazine, and MediaWorks publishes several game, manga, hobby, and special interest magazines, as well as books, under the Dengeki imprint. Those magazines include the Dengeki PlayStation game magazine, the Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh manga magazine, and Dengeki Hobby magazine for modelers. It also published titles ranging from Gundam mecha guides to the Azumanga Daioh and Gunslinger Girl manga.
According to the announcement, the two subsidiaries do not directly compete, but the convergence of the Internet marketplace and traditional publishing means that a merger will streamline operations and strengthen the revenue base. The merger is scheduled for April 1 (the start of many Japanese companies' fiscal year) of next year.
After the merger, the new company will be known as ASCII Media Works. Kadokawa Group Holdings decided to keep Enterbrain, another subsidiary under it, separate from ASCII and MediaWorks. ASCII's assets are valued at 240 million yen (about US$2.1 million), and MediaWorks's assets are valued at 3.8 billion yen (about US$33 million). MediaWorks reported 13.9 billion yen (US$120 million) in sales in 2006, but Kadokawa does not report the sales figures for ASCII alone.
Source: RBB Today
