For the first time in America, Yu-Gi-Oh! will be in the hands of another company. In April 2011, 4Kids filed for bankruptcy after TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems sued over a discrepancy in Yu-Gi-Oh! payments. Now, even though all the parties reached an "amicable" settlement earlier this year, 4Kids has announced its plans to sell "substantially all of [their] Yu-Gi-Oh!-related assets" to KidsCo Media Ventures, an affiliate of the Saban Capital Group.

If the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approves the sale -- and they could still authorize other companies to make a bid -- then all rights will transfer to KidsCo. I don't consider Yu-Gi-Oh! a hot property anymore, but I guess KidsCo thinks this is a solid investment. Don't worry about 4Kids losing a major license though, because they've licensed Beastkeeper, an Italian-made anime-influenced cartoon. Totally the same thing.

So uh...is anyone interested in seeing a Yu-Gi-Oh!/Power Rangers crossover?

[Via ANN]