Fuji Media and SBI to form joint venture

Major Japanese online financial service group SBI Holdings and Fuji Media Holdings announced on Monday that they will form a capital and business alliance focusing on media and content production.

The two companies will establish a 50-50 joint venture in January next year. They will consider developing multiple projects centering around what is referred to as real media, where businesses build continuous relationships with customers through in-person live performances and events.

“It is necessary to establish a system to continuously produce intellectual property,” SBI President Yoshitaka Kitao told a news conference. “We will first aim to develop a model to support intellectual property creation.”

The companies will seek to develop new content and creators through auditions under a new project led by producer and lyricist Yasushi Akimoto.

SBI and Fuji Media, the parent of Fuji Television Network, will also jointly study new fundraising models for content production.

Fuji Media will invest in a ¥100 billion SBI fund that focuses on the content industry, and the two companies will work together to select investment targets.

In June, SBI and Fuji Media announced that they had begun talks on such an alliance.