Sanrio Co. has bought the rights to the Mr. Men animated characters from Chorion Ltd., looking to cut its reliance on Hello Kitty, which generates 80 percent of the company's overseas licensing revenue.
Sanrio will acquire all shares of the Mr. Men animated film development and production unit from London-based Chorion, the company said in a statement that didn't include the terms of the deal.
Mr. Men will be the first character set at Sanrio not created by the company itself, which was founded by President Shintaro Tsuji in 1960. Sanrio has licensed the images of Hello Kitty and other characters it developed for use on about 50,000 items, including Zara Hello Kitty T-shirts sold in more than 70 countries.
Sanrio "should be able to increase sales of Mr. Men," said Takashi Oka, a Tokyo-based analyst at TIW Inc. "Sanrio won't stop here and will carry on acquiring global characters."
Sanrio's stock has more than doubled this year, making it the eighth-biggest gainer among 1,662 stocks in the Topix index, which has declined 18 percent.