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Viz Media Appoints Boutique Licensing Agency in Europe

Viz Media announced on Monday that it is appointing Boutique Licensing Agency (BLA!) as its European agency to lead its consumer products business expansion internationally. BLA!'s role will be to create a strategic plan with Viz for Europe; sign and manage licensees across general merchandise, experiences, and promotions; and support retail partnerships and collaborations on behalf of Viz.

BLA! is a European boutique-style brand licensing agency with central offices in Barcelona and Copenhagen. It offers brand owners commercial support in every territory. BLA! has appointed licensing agency Reemsborko as its sub-agent in the U.K.

Simon & Schuster distributes Viz Media manga and novel publications in North America.

Crunchyroll became the majority owner of Viz Media Europe Group in December 2019. Viz Media Europe Group was comprised of Viz Media Europe Group, AV Visionen, Anime Versand, VIZ Media Switzerland, KAZÉ, KAZÉ Manga, Anime on Demand, and Anime Digital Network (in partnership with the Média-Participations subsidiary Citel). The company became Crunchyroll EMEA following the agreement.

The Hitotsubashi Group ⁠— consisting of Shueisha, Inc., Shogakukan, Inc., Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd. ⁠— retains a minority stake in Viz Media Europe Group. Additionally, Shogakukan and Shueisha Group retained complete ownership of Viz Media Europe's publishing business through VME PLB SAS, a new company that Shogakukan and Shueisha Group created. The company licenses manga for the EMEA and Latin American regions, with Kazuyoshi Takeuchi as president and Kazuyuki Masuda as managing director.

Source: Press release