News
Wiz Sells Off Production Reed Anime Studio
posted on by Egan Loo
The toy developer and producer Wiz has announced that it decided on Wednesday to sell its Production Reed anime studio subsidiary to Toshihiko Satō, the studio's current president. Wiz holds 22,267 shares, or 50.1%, of Reed. Sato is buying these shares at 3,600 yen (about US$38.00) each for a total of 80 million yen (US$840,000). Wiz could not foresee any synergy in owning Reed, so it decided to sell the anime studio to recommit itself to its core strengths of planning, developing, and producing toys. Once the management buyout is complete, Reed will be over 95% employee-owned.
Production Reed was established as Ashi Production in 1975. It was responsible for such popular anime classics as Magical Princess Minky Momo, Dancougar, and Sengoku Majin Goshōgun in the 1980s. It became a subsidiary of the toy company Bandai in 2001, but it split from the Bandai Group in 2005. Soon after, it became a consolidated subsidiary of Wiz in August of 2006. At the time, the company's stocks were valued at 4,600 yen (US$48) for a total of 100 million yen (US$1 million). It was renamed from Ashi Production to Production Reed in 2008. ("Ashi" is Japanese for "reed.")
Source: animeanime.jp
