Hayao Miyazaki’s iconic Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli is selling a controlling stake to Japanese broadcaster Nippon Television (NTV).
Nippon Television will become Studio Ghibli’s largest shareholder with 42.3% of voting rights, and as a result both companies indicate in a statement Studio Ghibli will become a subsidiary of Nippon Television.
In addition, executives from Nippon Television are expected to join Studio Ghibli’s management. The deal’s valuation was not revealed.
The now 82-year-old Miyazaki and 75-year-old Toshio Suzuki, along with the late Isao Takahata, founded the company back in 1985 in the wake of the success of Miyazaki’s 1984 film “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”.
The two companies say in a statement that: “Because Nippon Television has maintained a long-standing relationship with Studio Ghibli while respecting its values, we were confident that we could permanently protect Studio Ghibli’s ‘manufacturing’ and brand value.”
Studio Ghibli was previously a subsidiary brand of publisher Tokuma Shoten between 1999 and 2005 but has been an independent entity over the past eighteen years.
The announcement comes on the heels of the release of Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” in Japan in July. That film will get a commercial release in the U.S. through GKIDS on December 8th.
Source: Variety
