『Kadokawa』

Kadokawa Corporation(Japanese: 株式会社KADOKAWA, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Kadokawa), formerly Kadokawa Dwango Corporation, is a Japanese media conglomerate that was created as a result of the merger of the original Kadokawa Corporation and Dwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014.

History

The holding company known today as Kadokawa Corporation was originally founded in 1945 as Kadokawa Shoten, to"revitalize Japanese culture through publishing" in the postwar era.

It was merged with Dwango Co., Ltd. to form Kadokawa Dwango on October 1, 2014, and became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Dwango.

In February 2019, Kadokawa Dwango announced that Dwango would stop being their subsidiary to be a direct subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation in a reorganization of the company.

This made Kadokawa Corporation the sole subsidiary of the holding company Kadokawa Dwango.

On July 1, 2019, Kadokawa Dwango was reorganized again;only the publishing business remained in Kadokawa Corporation, and it was renamed Kadokawa Future Publishing, while Kadokawa Dwango itself became the second iteration of Kadokawa Corporation and the holding company of all of the Kadokawa Group companies.

The original name Kadokawa Shoten remains as a brand and a division of Kadokawa Future Publishing.

On February 4, 2021, Kadokawa announced that the company had formed a Capital Alliance with Sony and CyberAgent to strengthen the company's creation, development, and acquisition of new IP while also maximizing use of existing IPs. As part of the agreement both Sony and CyberAgent would each receive a 1.93% stake in the company via American investment company of Japanese subsidiary, KKR Japan acquired a 12% stake.

On October 29, 2021, Kadokawa announced that it had formed a capital and business alliance with Tencent, which acquired a 6.86% stake in the conglomerate for ¥30 billion($264 million). The aim of the alliance is for Kadokawa to expand its global reach using Tencent's platforms.

China, where the company has an existing joint venture with Tencent, is a particular target.