During the final day of AKB48's annual event, "AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 1035 2015" which was held at TOKYO DOME CITY HALL on January 25, it was announced that their new sister group would be formed in Niigata.

The new sister group NGT48 will begin recruiting the first generation members starting in March, and will open their own theater, NGT48 Theater, on October 1. 

With the opening of new theater, Imamura Etsuro, the current SKE48 theater manager, will be transferred as the NGT48 theater manager, and current AKB48 theater manager Yuasa Hiroshi will become SKE48's new theater manager.
Also, Shiba Tomoya who is current SKE48 theater manager Kenkyuusei, and former AKB48 team K manager, will be promoted as AKB48 theater manager.

NGT48 will be AKB48 group's 5th domestic group following AKB48, SKE48 (based in Sakae, Nagoya), NMB48 (based in Namba, Osaka), and HKT48 (based in Hakata, Fukuoka). They have also expanded the sister groups internationally, as there are JKT48 (based in Jakarta, Indonesia) and SNH48 (based in Shanghai, China).

Source & Image: Oricon