TBS Acquires 6.45% Stake in U-Next in Strategic Alliance
TBS (TYO:9401) has agreed to purchase 11.63 million common shares of U-Next (TYO:9418) for 20 billion yen through an off-market transaction, giving it a 6.45% voting stake and raising its total ownership to 8.03% post-deal.The capital and business alliance aims to merge TBS's content production strengths with U-Next's streaming platform to boost global competitiveness in original content creation, according to a Tokyo bourse filing on Friday.The partnership includes plans for a joint venture with South Korea's CJ ENM (KOSDAQ:035760), along with collaborations spanning video archives, background music services, karaoke systems, and cross-industry customer bases.The transaction is scheduled to close on July 3, with only a minor impact on TBS's consolidated earnings expected.U-Next, TBS and CJ ENM first disclosed plans to form a joint venture in February.
