Blackstone to buy Japanese Manga firm for $1.7 billion

Blackstone Inc has agreed to buy Japanese e-comics provider Infocom Corp, according to people familiar with the matter.

The world's largest alternative asset manager has emerged as the buyer of a 55.1% stake in Infocom held by Tokyo-listed Teijin Ltd., the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

Blackstone had offered about ¥260 billion ($1.66 billion) for the company, one of the people said.


Blackstone may seek to eventually acquire all of Infocom's shares through a takeover bid and share transfer, the people said.

Blackstone has been picked as the buyer after outbidding rivals, the people said.

Sony Music Entertainment, Japanese fund Integral Corp as well as KKR & Co. had also been interested in an acquisition, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month.

Representatives for Blackstone and Teijin declined to immediately comment on the development.

Shares of Infocom have surged about 96% this year, valuing the company at about $1.8 billion.

As of the end of last year, New York-listed Blackstone - led by chairman and CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman - had assets worth $1.1 trillion under management. Teijin, which is up about 24% from a February low, has been seeking to trim its non-core operations.