Iwakaze Capital to invest 1.8B yen in GDH; GDH acquired US$2M in Crunchyroll

GDH, the corporate parent of the Gonzo animation studio and the Gonzo Rosso online game developer, has announced on Wednesday that it is allocating shares to obtain 1.9 billion yen (about US$18 million) in investment funds from Iwakaze Capital. GDH also received a takeover bid from the same group. At the same time, GDH revealed in another press release that it made a capital and business tie-up with the Crunchyroll video-sharing service this past April by acquiring a 210-million-yen (US$2-million) stake in Crunchyroll.

Iwakaze Capital is investing in GDH at 6,858 yen (US$63.75) a share, which represents a 9.9% discount from the average closing price of 7,612 yen (US$70.76) over the past year. GDH has been on notice for possible delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange before this investment. In addition, Iwakaze's takeover bid would require a 15% acquisition in GDH through 13,189 shares at 8,000 yen (US$74) each, or about 1.06 billion yen (US$9.9 million). GDH's closing price on Wednesday before the announcement was 8,800 yen (US$82).

Crunchyroll has been streaming anime projects from Gonzo — in several cases, it has been posting videos internationally within hours of the projects' broadcasts in Japan. The service also received US$4 million from the venture capital firm Venrock.

Gonzo's recent and upcoming projects include S.A, Strike Witches, Rosario + Vampire Capu2, Linebarrels of Iron, The Tower of Druaga: the sword of Uruk , Afro Samurai: Resurrection , and Slap Up Party -Arad Senki-.

Thank you to Quarkboy for the news tip.