At a press conference in Tokyo today, executives from Bandai and Namco discussed their planned merger. The president of the new company Bandai Namco Holdings will be current Bandai president Takeo Takasu. Namco founder and chairman Masaya Nakamura will be acting as chief adviser to the new company's management, while his successor as Namco president Kyuushirou Takagi will assume the position of chairman. The recently appointed Namco president Shigekazu Ishimura however will only serve as a part-time director on the board of Bandai Namco Holdings, while remaining Namco president. His counterpart at Bandai will be Kazunori Ueno, who just like Ishimura was only recently chosen to succeed Takasu.

As far as the exchange rates are concerned, one Bandai share will equal 1.5 shares in the holding company, while the exchange rate of Namco shares will be 1 to 1.

During today's press conference, president Takasu highlighted the synergy effects of Bandai's character merchandising and Namco's technological capabilities when it comes to developing content.

Similar to the setup of Sega Sammy Holdings, the brands Namco and Bandai will continue to exist under the holding company. As the merger progresses, the establishment of a toy hobby group, contents group, amusement group, visual group, and related businesses is planned. Among those five divisions, the toy hobby, contents and amusement groups are expected to return the highest profits.

Both Namco and Bandai had, in the past, unsuccessfully tried to merge with Sega. After talks with Namco broke down in early 2003, Sammy continued to show interest in Sega and eventually acquired a 22.4% in Sega from CSK. This led to the creation of Sega Sammy Holdings.

• Famitsuu