Nippon TV (NTV) announced that the company has acquired 42.3% of Studio Ghibli, one of the world’s leading animation studios. Once the acquisition of shares is complete, Nippon TV will be the largest shareholder for Studio Ghibli, and the anime studio will become a subsidiary of NTV.
Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki’s most recent work is The Boy and the Heron, which is one of the most successful anime films of 2023. This December, fans in North America will be able to view the new film in theaters. Before then, the company is undergoing a notable change in terms of corporate structure due to the acquisition by NTV.
Nippon TV Acquires Studio Ghibli
In an urgent press conference this Thursday in Japan, Nippon TV representative director and operating officer Yoshikuni Sugiyama and Studio Ghibli president and co-founder Toshio Suzuki announced the acquisition. Suzuki admitted that the search for a “successor” to the studio’s co-founders, which include himself and Hayao Miyazaki, prompted the plans to seek a suitor for the acquisition. Suzuki notes that he’s 75 years old, and Miyazaki is 82 years old. The time to hand the reigns to a younger generation appeared to be the primary determining factor.
Goro Miyazaki, Hayao’s son, was approached by Studio Ghibli about becoming the successor. However, Goro refused all offers, and Hayao also opposed his son becoming the head of the studio. As a result, Studio Ghibli searched for suitors, and NTV was leading the charge as the primary candidate for the sale. NTV had been in talks about a potential acquisition of Studio Ghibli since 2022.
This leads to today’s announcement, where NTV announced that 42.3% of shares in Studio Ghibli were purchased. Although the company did not buy the entirety of Studio Ghibli at once, the purchase of shares makes it the largest shareholder. As a result, Studio Ghibli will operate as a subsidiary instead of a purely independent studio.
Image Credit: GKIDS
