Magical Merger by Namco and Bandai

The long proposed merger of North American publishers Bandai and Namco finally went into effect this week, resulting in Namco Bandai Games America Inc. This will bring together Bandai’s toy and DVD production with Namco’s game publishing. Bandai has released PSP games such as The Legend of Heroes and Ghost in the Shell while Namco is known for titles like Me and My Katamari and Namco Museum.

“We are thrilled that the integration of the two North American entities is now complete and we are all now under one roof,” said the new company’s president and CEO, Genichi Ito, in a statement. “We are proud to be part of the new Namco Bandai Games America family and look forward to a successful year ahead.”

Ito’s enthusiasm was echoed by his new corporate planning senior vice president Naruo Uchida, formerly of Bandai Games.

“The integration of our two companies has been a team effort over the last several months,” Uchida said. “We have worked together to fuse the many strengths each of our companies have to form one strong North American operation.”

When Bandai and Namco originally announced plans for the merger of US operations, they said that the resulting boost in efficiency would increase the Japanese companies’ foreign revenue for the current business year by 19 percent, and are targeting a 50-percent boost in that area for the long term.

[Read] The long proposed merger of North American publishers Bandai and Namco finally went into effect this week, resulting in Namco Bandai Games America Inc. This will bring together Bandai’s toy and DVD production with Namco’s game publishing. Bandai has released PSP games such as The Legend of Heroes and Ghost in the Shell while Namco is known for titles like Me and My Katamari and Namco Museum.

“We are thrilled that the integration of the two North American entities is now complete and we are all now under one roof,” said the new company’s president and CEO, Genichi Ito, in a statement. “We are proud to be part of the new Namco Bandai Games America family and look forward to a successful year ahead.”

Ito’s enthusiasm was echoed by his new corporate planning senior vice president Naruo Uchida, formerly of Bandai Games.

“The integration of our two companies has been a team effort over the last several months,” Uchida said. “We have worked together to fuse the many strengths each of our companies have to form one strong North American operation.”

When Bandai and Namco originally announced plans for the merger of US operations, they said that the resulting boost in efficiency would increase the Japanese companies’ foreign revenue for the current business year by 19 percent, and are targeting a 50-percent boost in that area for the long term.

[Read]