Tencent Believes Investing in Anime and Manga Will Boost Its Global Growth
Tencent Holdings (OTC: TCEH.Y) is looking to kick off the next stage of its growth with the help of anime and manga characters from Japan. Tencent is already one of the largest companies in China. Its WeChat social messaging platform is one of the most frequently used apps in the country, and it's also the world's largest video game publisher. The company is now fixing its gaze on the talents of Japan's animation studios to jump-start the next phase of its growth.
Late last month, Tencent acquired a 20% stake in prominent Japanese anime studio Marvelous Entertainment for about $65 million, making it the company's largest shareholder. This followed a move earlier this year when Tencent took an equity stake in PlatinumGames, though terms of the deal were not disclosed. The move to buy stakes in these content creators rather than buy them outright marks a new strategy by Tencent to establish a beachhead in one of Japan's most popular exports, giving it access to intellectual property to use in its games in the coming years.
Image source: Getty Images.
Source Fool.com
