Sony Becomes Kadokawa’s Largest Shareholder Through Strategic Alliance
[summaraize]
Sony Group Corporation has entered a strategic capital and business alliance with Kadokawa Corporation, acquiring 12,054,100 new shares for approximately 50 billion yen (about 318 million USD). This transaction positions Sony as Kadokawa’s largest shareholder, with a 10% stake when combined with shares purchased in February 2021.
While not a full acquisition, this move gives Sony greater influence over Kadokawa’s decisions, fostering opportunities for collaboration across various sectors and mutual benefits.
- Related Reading: Report: Sony in Talks to Acquire Kadokawa, Parent Company of Elden Ring Dev FromSoftware
Kadokawa, a major Japanese entertainment publisher, operates in many fields including animation, and video games. It owns software developers FromSoftware (Elden Ring, Dark Souls) and Spike Chunsoft (Steins;Gate, Danganronpa).
The companies aim to strengthen their partnership, focusing on maximizing the global value of their intellectual properties. Plans include joint investments in content, discovering new creators, and expanding media adaptations. Specific initiatives under discussion involve adapting Kadokawa IPs for live-action films and TV dramas, co-producing anime, enhancing global distribution of Kadokawa anime through Sony, expanding Kadokawa’s game publishing, and developing talent for virtual production.
Sony Now the Largest Shareholder in Kadokawa
Hiroki Totoki, Sony’s COO and CFO, said,
Through this capital and business alliance, we will become the largest shareholder of KADOKAWA, which consistently creates a wide variety of IP, including publications and books, such as light novels and comics, as well as games and anime. By combining KADOKAWA’s extensive IP and IP creation ecosystem with the strengths of Sony, which has promoted the global expansion of a wide range of entertainment, including anime and games, we plan to work closely together to realize KADOKAWA’s ‘Global Media Mix’ strategy, aimed at maximizing the value of its IP, and Sony’s long-term vision, ‘Creative Entertainment Vision.’
Currently, Kadokawa’s ownership is divided among Kakao Investment (8.8%), Tencent (6.8%), and Masao Kawakami (4.7%). Sony holds 2%, with approximately 2.9 million shares. Following this deal, Sony will own 12.9 million shares, surpassing Kakao Investment (12.5 million shares).
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