Nishimura & Asahi and US firm Sheppard Mullin have led on an acquisition by Toho Co, the Japanese creator of the Godzilla movie franchise, of US-based Studio Ghibli’s animated film distributor GKIDS in an overseas expansion push.
Advised by Nishimura & Asahi, the Japanese film production and distributing company has, through its US-based subsidiary Toho International, reached an agreement with GKIDS to conduct a total buyout of the Academy Award-winning US animation producer and distributor.
Terms of the 100% equity share acquisition, including the transactional value, have not been disclosed, but GKIDs will become a consolidated subsidiary of Toho International on completion of the acquisition, which is scheduled to take place by the end of February 2025.
Tokyo-based partners Yuji Shiga and Hudson Hamilton led the Nishimura & Asahi team advising Toho. Sheppard Mullin represented GKIDS in the full equity share sale, with New York-based partner Shon Glusky leading the US firm’s team on the transaction.
