Sony to buy 12.05 million Kadokawa shares in strategic partnership

Another interesting story that emerged in late 2024 was an earlier rumor that Sony was interested in buying Japanese media company and Kadokawa Group, the parent company of FromSoftware. Sony itself confirmed that discussions were taking place. But this week Sony and Kadokawa revealed the terms of their latest business deal. In a strategic partnership, Kadokawa is allocating more than 12 million of its new shares to Sony, which will give the PlayStation maker control of more than 10 percent of Kadokawa’s total shares.

Kadokawa and Sony announced this condition.”Strategic capital and business partnerships” In a press release this week, Kadokawa will create and allocate 12,054,100 new shares of the company’s shares to Sony for a total price of 50 billion yen. With the new shares and previously purchased shares, Sony will have a 10 percent stake in Kadokawa when the deal is completed The transaction is expected to close by January 7, 2025.

Sony’s interest in increasing its stake in Kadokawa has been a story for nearly a month. But most details have not been confirmed until this point. It was only last month that we began hearing reports that the two companies were discussing a deal that many suspected could lead to Sony acquiring Kadokawa outright. Sony itself confirmed that it had sent an initial disclosure of its intentions. As for the deal with Kadokawa, Sony’s interest lies not only in Kadokawa’s parent company, FromSoftware. But it also includes Kadokawa’s extensive media empire, which includes CrunchyRoll and various anime rights.

Once this deal is confirmed, Sony and Kadokawa also intend to discuss future collaborations such as live-action adaptations, television series, new anime series, and more, while we wait and see. How will this affect business between the two companies in January? Please stay tuned for further updates.