“This is an important moment in Crunchyroll’s history” says company’s general manager.
Crunchyroll has today closed a transaction which brings together its anime brand and global platform with VIZ Media Europe Group’s EMEA-wide network of partners, distributors and licensees.
Crunchyroll is now the majority owner in VIZ Media Europe Group, which encompasses VIZ Media Europe, VIZ Media Switzerland, AV Visionen, KAZÉ, KAZÉ Manga, Anime on Demand and Anime Digital Network (in partnership with Citel).
To coincide with the completion of the deal – which was reported by Source in September – John Easum has taken on the new role of head of Crunchyroll EMEA.
“This is an important moment in Crunchyroll’s history, indicative of our commitment to growing the global anime and manga communities,” said Joanne Waage, general manager of Crunchyroll. “Through this acquisition, we now have operations and expertise at scale in EMEA to grow the value and audience of our collective IP across streaming, broadcast, theatrical, home video, manga, games, events, ecomm and more.
“As we move into this next chapter, we can think of no person better-suited to guide our strategy and team in EMEA than John Easum, who brings more than 25 years of experience growing the anime and manga industries internationally and who has served in leadership positions previously at VIZ Media Europe and VIZ Media USA.”
John will steer the expansion of Crunchyroll’s international efforts including overseeing VIZ Media Europe Group, the management of new and existing content distribution deals, the exploration and expansion of international events and activations, plus the discovery of new growth opportunities.
With the transaction closed, Crunchyroll will now have offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Chisinau, Paris, Berlin and Lausanne.
As part of the transition, Kazuyoshi Takeuchi, president of VIZ Media Europe, is stepping down from that role and will continue to support VIZ Media Europe Group as an advisor.
Shogakukan and Shueisha Group will retain a minority stake in VIZ Media Europe Group and will also retain complete ownership of VIZ Media Europe’s publishing licensing business through a transfer to VME PLB SAS, a new company created by Shogakukan and Shueisha group.
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