Kadokawa announced on January 25 that is partnering with European publishing-based entertainment group Média-Participations Paris and its subsidiary Éditions Dupuis to launch a joint venture business named Vega SAS with Dupuis’ existing Vega-Dupuis imprint. Kadokawa will acquire 51% of the Vega-Dupuis imprint business, and Dupuis will own the other 49%.

The joint venture business will publish Japanese and Korean comics, light novels, and other content for the global French language markets under the Vega-Dupuis imprint. The imprint will focus on Kadokawa titles but will also publish content from other Japanese and Korean publishers. The joint venture announcement also referenced “the creation of original manga adaptations of European IPs.”

The announcement stated that manga sales have quadrupled in France in the past decade and one in 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 ebooks and vertical-scroll 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 named PT Phoenix Gramedia Indonesia to jointly develop a manga and light novel publishing business, as well as sales of merchandise and operation of digital publishing platforms. Kadokawa maintains the majority 51% share of the new company, while PT Gramedia Asri Media maintains a 49% share. 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 has acquired a majority stake in Thai manga and light novel localization and publishing company First Page Pro, turning the company into a subsidiary of Kadokawa Amarin. The move made Kadokawa Amarin the largest publisher of manga and light novels 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 of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.