Carlyle Group has agreed to sell KANAMEL, a leading Japanese creative production and consulting firm, to Nippon Television Holdings, the owner of one of Japan’s major commercial TV networks.
The acquisition price for common stock in KANAMEL amounted to 37.2 billion yen (approximately $233 million), per a separate filing by Nippon Television.
The transaction, pending regulatory approvals, is expected to close by the end of April 2026. Nippon Television will acquire a stake of about 80%, bringing its total ownership to 100%, including the minority stake purchased in April 2025.
Carlyle acquired KANAMEL, then AOI TYO Holdings, in 2021 and has since helped expand its high-end content production capabilities and launch a customer experience consulting business. The firm supports Japanese companies in enhancing customer engagement across digital, brand, and marketing touchpoints.
Under Carlyle, KANAMEL also acquired consulting firm FIELD MANAGEMENT STRATEGY, boosting its strategy and concept development capabilities and reinforcing its premium positioning.
Yasuhito Nakae, KANAMEL CEO, said the partnership with Carlyle was pivotal in diversifying the company’s offerings and strengthening its foundation for long-term growth.
“By combining our creative and production capabilities with Nippon Television’s powerful media and content platform, we look forward to delivering greater value to audiences and clients not only in Japan but around the world,” Nakae said.
The sale continues Carlyle’s long-standing investment activity in Japan’s consumer, healthcare, technology, and services sectors, where the firm has deployed over 700 billion yen across more than 40 companies since 2000, including TRYT, kaonavi, Uzabase, and Simplex.
