Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: kodansha, manga, vertical

Manga Giant Kodansha Acquires US Publisher Vertical

Published Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:17:11 -0600

Last updated Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:17:10 -0600

Kodansha Limited, Japan's largest publisher of Manga, will acquire US publisher of translated Japanese fiction and manga Vertical, Inc. according to Anime News Network. The move comes as Kodansha continues to exert greater control over how its material is handled in the US, having recently shifted its licenses from Del Rey to its own Kodansha Comics label being distributed in the US by Del Rey parent Random House. Kodansha controls a huge library of popular manga properties including classics such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Oh My Goddess!, and numerous others.

Kodansha rival publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha already co-own US manga publisher Viz Media.

Dai Nippon Printing, a publicly traded Japanese company with plants in Japan, China, the US, and elsewhere, is a partner in the deal for Vertical.

The Japanese publishing giant Kodansha announced on Wednesday that it and Dai Nippon Printing are buying the American publishing startup Vertical. The price of the acquisition has not been made public. Vertical's headquarters is in Tokyo and it has 77 million yen (about US$930,000) in capital. Vertical translates and publishes Japanese books in English, including but not limited to manga. Kodansha bought 46.7% of Vertical, and Dai Nippon Printing bought 46.0%.