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ShoPro Renamed as Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions (Updated)

The Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha held a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday to announce that Shueisha had invested in Shogakukan's licensing and merchandising subsidiary, Shogakukan Production (ShoPro). As a result, Shogakuan Production was renamed as Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions on June 10. The companies said that the strategic move was made in order to flexibly deal with the overseas marketplace and to streamline operations. Masao Yagi will still be president of the renamed company, and its capital stands at 99 million yen (about US$920,000).

Since it was established in 1967, Shogakuan Production has dealt almost exclusively with properties related to Shogakukan manga and anime, such as Pokémon, Doraemon, Inuyasha, Hamtaro, Detective Conan, and Megaman. Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions will now handle properties related to manga from both Shogakukan and Shueisha. Not coincidentally, the North America publisher Viz Media is financially linked to all three of these entities; Viz and Shogakukan Production's American arm ShoPro Entertainment shared facilities in San Francisco, California before merging in 2005.

Source: Nikkan Sports

Shueisha President Hideki Yamashita, Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions President Masao Yagi, and Shogakukan President Masahiro Oga shake hands at Tuesday's press conference.

Update: Viz Media has issued a press release that indicates the standard punctuation and spelling in the name Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions.