4Kids Sells Yu-Gi-Oh! Assets
Posted Tuesday, 5/1/2012 by PPNSteve

4Kids Sells Yu-Gi-Oh! Assets to Kidsco for US$10 Million

Company sells its Yu-Gi-Oh!-related assets to Saban affiliate company

The North American anime distributor and licensor 4Kids Entertainment has sold the rights to its Yu-Gi-Oh!-related assets to KidsCo Media Ventures LLC. KidsCo is an affiliate of the Saban Capital Group, the investment firm whose subsidiaries own the Power Rangers franchise.

4Kids also acquired the international rights to the 52-episode anime-influenced Italian cartoon series Beastkeeper, which was produced by Mondo TV, Starbright, and Ponpoko Productions.

Documents filed to the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York last month had revealed that 4Kids had planned to sell what they described as "substantially all of [their] Yu-Gi-Oh!-related assets."

4Kids filed for bankruptcy last year shortly after a lawsuit was filed by TV Tokyo, Nihon Ad Systems, and ADK. The suit reached an "amicable" settlement earlier this year, with ADK and TV Tokyo paying US$8 million to 4Kids.

source: animenewsnetwork.com