Dai Nippon Printing, along with Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan, announced that they will acquire a combined 28.9% voting stake in Japan's Book-Off corporation. The acquisired shares will be distributed as follows:

• Dai Nippon Printing: 6.60%
• Maruzen: 5.57%
• Kodansha: 4.29%
• Shueisha: 4.29%
• Shogakukan: 4.29%
• Toshokan Ryutsu Center: 3.86%

Maruzen is a bookstore chain that is a subsidiary of Dai Nippon Printing.

All of the involved companies complained that the growing used-book market affected the sales of new books. However, as with the United States, Japan has a first sale doctrine to protect the consumer's right to resell used books and goods without paying royalties to the copyright holders.

The first Book-Off store opened in 1990, in Tokyo's Kanagawa Prefecture. the company currently owns 1,040 stores, including 10 stores in the United States, Canada, France, and South Korea. At the end of fiscal 2008, Book-Off reported sales of 50.4 billion yen ($524.5632 million US).