Sold: K-1 Rights Acquired By Japanese Real Estate Company in Interesting Move

Well, the news has been making the rounds all day: K-1 is now officially in the hands of Japanese real estate company, Barbizon Co. Ltd. After a significant period of speculation, hints from Kazuyoshi Ishii, and the frustrated indifference from fans the world over, we now have some answers. Sort of.

Daniel Herbertson of MMAFighting.com offered a pretty concise description of the purchasing company:

Barbizon Co,.Ltd was formed in 1967, currently employs 35 employees and has 484,000,000 Japanese yen (approximately 6.2 million dollars) in capital. The company specializes in real estate and owns a number of hotels and apartment complexes in Southeast Asia and Japan.

There you have it, the folks who purchased the rights to K-1 (trademarks including K-1 World Grand Prix, Dynamite!!, etc.).

Noticeably absent from the purchase are K-1 MAX, K-1 Koshien, and the mixed martial promotion, DREAM. A lot is staying the same there, DREAM remaining with FEG and Real Entertainment and K-1 Koshien tied to FiELDS. As for K-1 MAX, the brand's ties to Tokyo Broadcasting System muddy the waters a bit; though the sole K-1 MAX event of 2011 was run without TBS involvement.

Beyond that, there is little in the way of substantive information at this time. As Dave Walsh of LiverKick.com mentioned earlier today, there are rumors abound regarding involving of groups outside of Japan, and the matter of whose hands are in this really is the major question going forward.

Given the nature of this story, keep up with us at Head Kick Legend and the gentlemen over at Bloody Elbow, where Fraser Coffeen laid out the news earlier today.

Expect plenty of further details in the coming weeks and months, as this dramatic shift in the K-1 brand unfolds.