Tokyopop's Public Stock Shares Offer Ends on September 24
Tokyopop announced on April 11 that it is offering public buyers to purchase stock shares of the company at US$5.00 per share with a minimum investment of US$1,000. The equity shares are Class B Common Stock, and they do not include voting rights. Investments of US$2,500 or more result in bonus shares, with an investment of over US$12,500 offering 7% bonus shares. The company offered an additional 5% in bonus shares for investments above US$2,500 made before May 6 or an additional 3% for those made between May 7-June 4. There is a 3.0% investor processing fee. The company is offering a maximum amount of US$1,234,995.75. If the total investments do not equal or exceed the target offering amount of US$10,001.30, then no shares will be sold and any investment commitments will be cancelled with funds returned.
In addition to seeking the maximum investment amount of about US$1.2 million, the company is pursuing up to US$50 million in annual revenue by 2030. The company currently earns an annual revenue of about US$15 million. As of February 28, Tokyopop has an aggregate of approximately US$1,084,720 in cash and cash equivalents.
According to the independent accountants' review report, Tokyopop "has incurred losses from operations and has experienced negative cash flows from operating activities." In addition, the accountants expressed substantial doubt about Tokyopop's ability to continue.
Tokyopop lists that its future plans include expanding its publishing and IP pipeline, saling anime produciton partnerships, growing merchandising and direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels, and developing live experiences and exhibitions. According to the company, the investment proceeds will go towards intermediary fees, core publishing, anime production, merchandising, and live experiences.
Every Tokyopop shareholder automatically becomes a member of the Tokyopop Owners Club (TOC). Membership includes a personalized digital stock certiciate, a membership card, one complimentary Tokyopop product each year, early access windows for select new releases, owners-only editions, custom releases, behind-the-scenes access to Tokyopop's team, and an invitation ot the Annual Virtual Owners Town Hall with Tokyopop's leadership team.
As Tokyopop lists in its FAQ, its common shares are not publicly-traded, and cannot be easily traded or sold. In addition, the shares cannot be transferred during the one-year holding period beginning when they were issued. Investors would typically look to receive a return on such an investment is either another company acquires Tokyopop or the company makes an initial public offering.
Newly founded Limited Liability Company "Tokyopop Investor Holdings" is the co-issuer for the stocks. Tokyopop Investor Holdings serves as a conduit for investors to invest in the company and does not have a separate business purpose. Buyers invest directly into Tokyopop Investor Holdings and not into Tokyopop itself. The company lists risks including loss of the entire investment, no protective provisions, no voting rights, and no inspection or information rights. There is no guarantee of return. Tokyopop CEO, Director, and Founder Stu Levy and other insiders and directors own a majority of the voting shares of the company.
Levy founded Tokyopop, originally called Mixx, in 1997 and published manga in serial form in its Mixxzine magazine. Tokyopop later pioneered the publication of "unflipped" manga (shown in its original right-to-left reading format) for all of its titles in 2002 and launched divisions in the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as an imprint devoted to boys-love manga called Blu, between 2003 and 2005.
Tokyopop shut down its North American publishing operations in May 2011 but collaborated with other companies to release manga and world manga after the closure. Tokyopop announced at its Anime Expo panel in 2015 that it was planning to begin publishing manga again in 2016, and announced its first new manga licenses in 2018.
The company listed that it had 31 employees, including 20 employed by its German subsidiary, as of April 8. Tokyopop also uses independent contractors and advisors.
Tokyopop announced in May 2024 a multi-year sales and distribution agreement with Penguin Random House Publisher Services (PRHPS), a division of Penguin Random House, to distribute the entire Tokyopop frontlist and backlist across all sales channels worldwide, starting on January 1, 2025.
The company appointed Lena Atanassova as its Editor in Chief in September 2024.
Sources: Email correspondence
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.