After a few weeks of 'please, they don't talk around Elden Circle and Blood carried parent company of developer FromSoftware Kadokawa Corporation and possible acquisition of Sony, the couple has announced something. It is a “strategic capital and business alliance” aimed at fostering collaborative ties, with Sony becoming the largest shareholder in Kadokawa.
A a report from Reuters The first time we heard about this was the end of November. Both sides then confirmed their interest from the megacorp behind PlayStation in making some kind of deal, with Kadokawa adds that no decision had been made on whether he would take over.
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Now, both have name it's not an outright purchase, but a “strategic capital and business alliance” (thanks, Gematsu). What does that mean? Well, Sony became the “largest shareholder” of Kadokawa, with the aim of “further strengthening” cooperative ties between the two companies.
As part of the deal, Sony is to acquire “12,054,100 new Kadokawa shares for approximately 50 billion yen” on January 7, 2025, bringing its total up to “approximately 10%” of Kadokawa's total stake, when which will be these new sections. added to some previously acquired by Sony back in 2021.
“Kadokawa and Sony have historically collaborated on a number of projects,” the companies wrote of the agreement, “and through this capital and business alliance, we plan to further strengthen our collaboration to increase the value of the IP to increase both companies globally and to facilitate wider and deeper cooperation, such as. as possible joint investments in the field of content, joint discovery of new creators, and joint promotion of a variety of other media of the two companies' IP.
“In the future, the two companies plan to discuss specific initiatives for cooperation, such as initiatives to adapt Kadokawa's IP into live-action films and TV dramas worldwide, co-production of anime works, expansion of global distribution of ' Kadokawa's anime works through the Sony Group. , expand the publishing of Kadokawa games, and develop human resources to promote and expand virtual production.”
“Through this capital and business alliance, we will become the largest shareholder of Kadokawa, which regularly creates a wide variety of IP, including publications and books, such as light novels and comics, as well on games and anime,” said Sony president, COO. , and CFO Hiroki Totoki, “By combining Kadokawa's extensive IP and IP creation ecosystem with Sony's strengths, which has expanded global promotion of a wide range of entertainment, including anime and games, we plan to work closely together to realize Kadokawa's 'Global Media Mix' strategy, which aims to to maximize the value of the IP, and Sony's long-term vision, 'Creative Entertainment Vision.'
Kadokawa CEO Takeshi Natsuno said the alliance is expected to “not only strengthen our IP creation capabilities, but also increase our IP media mix options with Sony's support for global expansion, allowing our IP to deliver to more users around the world.”
How do you feel about the back and forth between Sony and Kadokawa as a result of this alliance? Let us know below!
