The Pokémon Company International announced that it acquired the manufacturer of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Millennium Print Group, for an unknown sum.
Based in North Carolina, Millennium Print Group is a printing company producing Pokémon Trading Card Game since 2015.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game based on the Pokémon franchise, which was first released in Japan in October 1996. The game has sold over 34 billion cards worldwide as of March 2021. It is the best-selling product of The Pokémon Company International.
Under the deal, The Pokémon Company plans to expand the printing company’s infrastructure, capabilities, and scale and transform it into “a premier printer of trading cards.”
“The talented team at Millennium Print Group has been an important partner to The Pokémon Company International for many years, helping us bring the Pokémon Trading Card Game to our fans with the quality they expect,” said Kenji Okubo, the President of The Pokémon Company International. “By joining forces in a more meaningful way, our goal is to enhance the ways our organizations work together and continue to bring the highest quality Pokémon TCG products to market. Simultaneously, we aim to develop Millennium into an even better, bigger, state-of-the-art version of their already exceptional organization, benefitting not just Pokémon but all of their customers.”
The Pokémon Trading Card Game should not be confused with the Pokémon Go, which is a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality mobile game by Niantic.
As per the agreement, there won’t be any reorganization, and Millennium Print will continue to operate independently. Additionally, The Pokémon Company International will provide funding and business expertise to the company.
“Millennium Print Group has had the pleasure of growing alongside the Pokémon brand and Pokémon Trading Card Game for nearly a decade,” said Terry Pegram, CEO of Millennium Print Group. “In that time, we have had the opportunity to develop an amazing relationship with the expert team at The Pokémon Company International, an organization with a special culture who lives its values every day. This exciting new chapter for Millennium Print Group has a tremendous beneficial impact on both our business and its employees. We look forward to continuing to support our team members and customers while growing Millennium to be a premier printer for trading cards in the world.”
In other acquisition news, Swedish holding company Embracer Group has agreed to buy three major western studios from Japanese publisher Square Enix Holdings for $300 million. The three studios are Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Montreal, and Eidos Montreal.
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