Jakks Pacific, the Malibu-based toy company named after its founder Jack Friedman, announced Tuesday it has formed a joint venture with Meisheng Culture and Creative Corp. to bring its products to China.
The deal will include the setting up of a Jakks subsidiary in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone that will sell, distribute and market selected licensed and non-licensed Jakks products in various Chinese territories.
According to Stephen Berman, co-founder and CEO of Jakks Pacific, Inc., Meisheng is a recognized name in the area of Chinese cultural and entertainment production, spanning many areas including animated films and derivatives, television production, media operations, online games and animation apparel.
Through Jakks Pacific partnership with Meisheng along with their trusted name and strong foothold in the Chinese market, Jakks Pacific aims to bring its diverse portfolio of toys and consumer products into the robust Chinese market and allow millions of families to enjoy its great brands and products.
Xiaoqiang Zhao, Chairman of Meisheng Cultural & Creative Corp., for his part, responded that Jakks Pacific is a global leader in the toy industry, while Meisheng is at the forefront of animation, clothing production and diversified cultural enterprise in China.
Xiaoqiang believes that the joint venture with Jakks will be a win for both companies and advantageous to the development of the Chinese toy market.
Founded in 1995, Jakks manufactures action figures, electronics, dolls, dress-up toys, role play games, Halloween costumes, kids furniture, toy vehicles, plush toys, art activity kits, seasonal products, infant and preschool toys, construction toys and pet toys sold under various proprietary brands.
The company is also a licensee of several nationally and internationally known trademarks for use in toy production, including Disney, Warner Bros., WWE, Star Wars, UFC, Hello Kitty, Nintendo, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Pokemon and hundreds more.
Following the announcement of the joint venture in China, Jakks's publicly traded shares went up 13 cents (2 percent) in Tuesday, trading to close at $6.69, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal.