Television commercial and movie production firm TYO Inc. said Wednesday it will turn Tsuburaya Productions Co., known for its film and TV series featuring the Ultraman character, into a subsidiary.
Listed on the Jasdaq stock market for startups, TYO will pay ¥80 million to acquire 80 percent of the outstanding shares of Tsuburaya Enterprises Co., the effective parent firm of the Tokyo-based production company.
The deal will bring to an end the founding Tsuburaya family's control over the production company.
Tsuburaya Productions has been run by President Kazuo Tsuburaya, grandson of famed TV and film director Eiji Tsuburaya, who founded the firm in 1963.
Tsuburaya Productions, languishing under huge interest-bearing debts, has seen its performance flag. It had sales of ¥5.5 billion and net profit of ¥40 million in the business year to Feb. 28.
TYO is known in industry circles for TV commercials it has produced for such companies as Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) and Q.P. Corp.
TYO said it plans to cash in on the Ultraman series' popular characters by adding the production company to its business group.