Bandai Namco Holdings

Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. (NBHD) (株式会社バンダイナムコホールディングス, Kabushiki Gaisha Bandai Namuko Hōrudingusu), also known as the Bandai Namco Group, is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Namco and Bandai. It has interests in toys, video games and arcades, anime, and amusement parks. The new entity was founded on September 29, 2005. The company has its headquarters in Shinagawa, Tokyo.

Bandai Namco Holdings (USA) Inc. (NBHU) is a regional holding company that oversees U.S.-based operations. It was officially formed on January 2, 2006 and is located in the former Bandai U.S. headquarters in Cypress, California.

Business

The main business of Bandai Namco Holdings consists of the design and implementation of management strategies for the conglomerate and providing support for the overall business of its subsidiaries.

History

Namco Bandai Holdings was created in 2005, when Namco and Bandai performed a management integration, carried out via a share exchange. The shareholders of Namco received one NBHD share for each Namco share and the shareholders of Bandai received 1.5 NBHD shares for each Bandai share.

Prior to the merger, Bandai owned Sunrise, a Japanese animation company, which became a subsidiary of NBHD following the merger.

In September 2006, NBHD acquired CCP Co., Ltd. from Casio and made it a wholly owned subsidiary.

NBHD fully acquired developers Banpresto (whose video game operations were absorbed into Namco Bandai Games on April 1, 2008) and Namco Tales Studio since the merger. Formerly, both were partially owned by Bandai and Namco respectively. On March 31, 2006, Namco and Bandai's video game operations merged into Namco Bandai Games Inc. (NBGI). Namco's arcade and facility management continues under the name of Namco Ltd.

The business of Bandai Networks Co., Ltd. was merged into Namco Bandai Games, Inc. in April 2009 and Bandai Networks subsequently ceased to exist as a separate company.

Namco Bandai bought a 34% stake in Atari Europe on May 14, 2009, paving the way for its acquisition from Infogrames. Until June 30, 2012, Infogrames has the option to sell the other 66% in Atari Europe to NBHD. Between June 31, 2012 to June 20, 2013, Namco Bandai gains the option to acquire the 66% stake. On the 7th of July 2009, Namco Bandai Holdings bought 100% of Atari Australia Pty Ltd. NBHD acquired 100% of the shares of Atari Asia Holdings Pty. Ltd. and 100% of the shares of Atari UK Ltd. These former Atari companies were merged into Namco Bandai Partners to handle distribution and publishing support in PAL territories, including contracts for other publishers' titles.

Namco Bandai is pursuing whole ownership of D3 Publisher and currently owns 95% of the company's shares.

Namco Bandai has also created the ShiftyLook webcomic series, which focuses on reviving Namco's classic game series as comic strips. Comic strip series include Bravoman, Sky Kid, Xevious, Alien Confidential, Rocket Fox, Scar (based on Genpei Toumaden), and many more.

In August 2013, Namco Bandai opened a studio in Vancouver.

Organization

NBHD is organized into three Strategic Business Units, supplemented by Affiliated Business Companies that provide logistical support. The SBUs consist of Toys & Hobby, Content (video games, anime and recording), and Amusement Facility (theme parks).

Organizational history

The organization of NBHD has changed considerably since the merger. In 2007, NBHD consisted of 5 SBUs and the Affiliated Business Companies. In April 2009, the Game Contents SBU and the Network SBU were merged and since April 2010, NBHD consists of three SBUs and the Affiliated Business Companies.

Toys & Hobby SBU

The Toys & Hobby SBU is mainly made up of the former Bandai's toy-making facilities and regional subsidiaries.

• Bandai Co., Ltd.
  • Bandai S.A.
  • Bandai UK Ltd.
  • Bandai España S.A.
  • Bandai GmbH.
  • Bandai Polska SP.ZO.O
  • Bandai (H.K.) Co., Ltd.
  • Bandai Asia Co., Ltd.
  • Bandai Korea Co., Ltd.
  • Creative Works Co., Ltd.
  • Bandai (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.
  • Bandai Taiwan Co., Ltd.
  • Bandai South Asia Pte., Ltd.
  • Bandai Industrial Co., Ltd.
  • Bandai (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
  • Bandai America Inc.
  • Bandai Corporacion Mexico S.A. de C.V.
• Megahouse Corporation.
• CCP Co., Ltd.
• Seeds Co., Ltd.
• Plex Co., Ltd.
• People Co., Ltd.
• Sun-Star Stationary Co., Ltd.
• Fujiya Co.
• Tenyo

Content SBU

The Content SBU is responsible for all video game products, including games for home consoles, arcades, and mobile platforms, as well as anime production and distribution. The bulk of these facilities are made up by the former Namco, also with Banpresto and D3 Publisher, and the Sunrise anime production company, along with the following:

Asia

America

• Bandai Namco Games America
  • Bandai Namco Games Brazil
  • Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver
• Bandai Namco Online
• Bandai Entertainment

Europe

Oceania

• Bandai Namco Games Australia
• Bandai Namco Games NZ (New Zealand)

• Namco Bandai Studios Asia Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia, formerly Infogrames Studios Asia Pty Ltd and Atari Studios Pty Ltd.
• Namco Bandai Melbourne House Pty Ltd in Melbourne, Australia, formerly Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd and Atari Melbourne House Pty Ltd.
• Namco Bandai Partners Australia Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia, founded as Ozisoft Pty Ltd in 1982, acquired July 7, 2009 from Atari.
• Namco Bandai Partners Asia Holdings Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia. Former names have been Atari Asia Holdings Pty Ltd and Infogrames Asia Holdings Pty Ltd, serves as Namco Bandai's asset holdings company for the Asian region outside of Japan.

Former subsidiaries

• Banpresto Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded April 1977 as Hoei Sangyo, Co. Ltd, acquired April 1, 2008.
• Namco Tales Studio in Tokyo, Japan, founded as Wolf Team in 1986, fully acquired from Telenet Japan on September 29, 2005.
• Namco Networks America Inc.

Amusement Facility SBU

The Amusement Facility SBU oversees the company's theme parks and the management of its own arcades, most of which were acquired through the merger with Namco.

• Hanayashiki Co. Ltd, acquired with Banpresto in March 2006.
• Namco Ltd.
  • Namco Entertainment
• Pleasure Cast Co. Ltd, acquired with Banpresto in March 2006.

Affiliated Business Companies

• Sotsu

References

External links

• Namco Bandai Holdings
• Namco Bandai Holdings (USA)