is the holding company

Holding company

A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...

 of the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese enterprise Index Group of Companies. It was founded on September 1, 1995, as a mobile content service provider and has expanded into one of Japan's most successful companies, with acquisitions into several communications and entertainment ventures, including the anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 studio Madhouse

Madhouse (company)

is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...

, game companies Atlus

Atlus

is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...

 and Interchannel

Interchannel

Interchannel is a Japanese game developer and publisher. Previously known as NEC Interchannel and before that NEC Avenue, it was originally a subsidiary of NEC before 70 percent of the company was sold to Index Corporation for approximately 3 billion yen in 2004...

, and major movie studio

Movie studio

A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...

 Nikkatsu

Nikkatsu

is a Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The name Nikkatsu is an abbreviation of Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Cinematograph Company".-History:...

. It has also made inroads into numerous worldwide ventures, including the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, where it owns the football club Grenoble Foot 38

Grenoble Foot 38

Grenoble Foot 38, commonly referred to as simply Grenoble, is a French association football club based in Grenoble, a city situated at the foot of the French Alps. The original incarnation of the club was founded in 1892 and, in 1997, was formed into the club that exists today as a result of a merger...

, which, upon Index's acquisition, achieved promotion to Ligue 1

Ligue 1

Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

, with a new stadium opened soon after in February 2008, Stade des Alpes

Stade des Alpes

Stade des Alpes is a football stadium in Grenoble, France. The stadium holds 20,068 and hosts the home games of Grenoble Foot 38.Situated in Parc Paul Mistral, it replaced their stadium Stade Lesdiguières....

, also built.