Hachette Book Group and Kadokawa Corporation, a major Japanese publisher, are creating a new venture that will join Hachette's Yen Press imprint with Kadokawa. Kadokawa will own 51% of the joint venture and Hachette 49%. The agreement is expected to close by the end of the month, at which time Yen Press will become Yen Press LLC.
Founded in 2006, Yen Press specializes in manga and light novels, and publishes a range of titles, including English translations of Japanese titles, manga adaptations of novels by Hachette authors like James Patterson and Stephenie Meyer, and original manga developed at Yen Press. The joint venture is expected to combine Hachette's strengths in manga publishing, distribution, sales and marketing and enable Yen Press and Kadokawa to maximize book publishing and anime distribution (through Kadokawa's expertise in the anime marketplace), while also seeking to expand e-book distribution.
Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch said the new partnership "will further strengthen our Yen Press brand, and allow us to leverage Kadokawa's superb reputation in both manga and light novel genres, as well as their digital distribution and anime platforms." He added that Yen will continue to be headed by Kurt Hassler, "who has built the publishing program to where it is today"; he will be promoted from publisher of the imprint to managing director and publisher of the new venture.
Hassler noted that Yen and Kadokawa have worked together since the imprint's founding and said, "I can't think of another instance in the manga field in this market where leading publishers from Japan and the U.S. have pooled their resources in a true joint venture of this nature, and with the demand for manga and light novels already exploding, the possibilities seem endless."
Masaki Matsubara, representative director and president of Kadokawa, said his company "considers the North American market as the most important international market for the company alongside the Greater China market and Southeast Asia where we have existing business presence, and are therefore profoundly pleased to have the opportunity to begin a joint venture partnership with a company of HBG's stature."
