As part of their expansion into the European market, Toho has purchased Anime Ltd in totality from the previous German owner, Plaion Pictures reports Variety.
While the company will be owned by Toho, Anime Ltd will operate as a standalone subsidiary with the same management and staff for the time being. No financial terms have been disclosed, but a new London office will be established as the official European regional headquarters for Toho.
This move gives Toho an established distribution network for their releases in theatres, home video, TV licensing in the UK and France, as well as additional material such as merchandise and licensing rights. The company will continue to work with previous owners Plaion Pictures to distribute further into Germany and Italy.
“This move accelerates the timeline to realize ‘Toho Vision 2032 Group Management Strategy’ by giving Toho an immediate pan-European distribution capability as well as access to Plaion Pictures’ highly additive infrastructure for merchandise operations.”
- Koji Ueda, president and representative director of Toho Global.
This acquisition follows Toho's purchase of US distributor GKIDS and the establishing of Toho Entertainment Asia in Singapore.
