Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, the parent company of the Japanese television network TBS, announced on Tuesday that it acquired the company Seven Arcs Group. Seven Arcs Group is the parent company of three affiliated companies tied to animation production: Arcturus, Seven Arcs, and Seven Arcs Pictures. Seven Arcs Group is becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings.

Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings acquired all the shares of the Seven Arcs Group from the group's owner and chairperson Osamu Uemura for an undisclosed price. Seven Arcs Group is the first anime production company to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings.

Seven Arcs is best known for the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise (pictured above). Seven Arcs Pictures' first major project after the acquisition is the television anime of the Saredo Tsumibito wa Ryū to Odoru: Dances with the Dragons light novel series (pictured left). The anime's TBS premiere was delayed from this past fall to next April.

Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, the news service Nikkei, TV Tokyo Holdings, the premium channel WOWOW, the advertising sponsor Dentsu, and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners invested in a streaming company called Premium Platform Japan. Premium Platform Japan announced on Monday that is launching Paravi, an unlimited streaming service with monthly subscription fees, on Monday. The service will launch in Japan in April for 999 yen (about U$9) a month.

Source: Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)