Japanese animation producer and distributor Geneon is falling under new management. Daily Variety reports that Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPIE) is set to acquire a majority share in the wholly owned subsidiary of advertising company Dentsu. Neither side has revealed financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close early next year.
With an 80.1% stake, Universal unit will merge Geneon with Universal Pictures Japan. The new unit will develop local content while distributing all Universal home entertainment product in Japan. Since March, Geneon has been distributing new Universal DVD titles, and UPJ has been marketing DVD releases of Universal catalog and TV titles.
In addition to putting out a prolific amount of anime and live-action Japanese titles, Geneon distributes Hollywood movies in Japan. Recent releases include Atonement, Charlie Wilson’s War and Red Line. The decline in anime DVD sales in the U.S. forced the company to pull out of the market late last year.
