Sony becomes the "largest shareholder" in FromSoftware owner Kadokawa, as the two put an Elden Ring on a "strategic capital and business alliance"
After all that corporate courting, the big duo have opted to strengthen their collaborative ties, but haven't gone the full buyout route.
After a good few weeks of 'will they, won't they' chatter surrounding Elden Ring and Bloodborne developer FromSoftware's parent company Kadokawa Corporation and a potential acquisition by Sony, the pair have announced a thing. It's a "strategic capital and business alliance" that's aimed at boosting collaborative ties, with Sony becoming the largest shareholder in Kadokawa.
A report from Reuters in late November was the first time we heard about this. Both sides then confirmed the interest from the megacorp behind PlayStation in doing some kind of deal, with Kadokawa adding that no decision had been made as to whether it would accept a takeover.
Now, the duo have announced not a straight up buyout, but a "strategic capital and business alliance" (thanks, Gematsu). What does that mean? Well, Sony becoming Kadokawa's "largest shareholder", with the goal to "further strengthen" collaborative ties between the two companies.
As part of the deal, Sony is set to acquire "12,054,100 new Kadokawa shares for approximately 50 billion yen" as of January 7, 2025, bringing its overall total up to "approximately 10%" of Kadokawa's overall share total, when these new shares are added to some Sony previously acquired back in 2021.
"Kadokawa and Sony historically have collaborated on various projects," the companies wrote of the agreement, "and through this capital and business alliance, intend to further strengthen our collaboration to maximize both companies' IP value globally and facilitate wider and deeper collaboration, such as potential joint investments in the content field, joint discovery of new creators, and joint promotion of further media mixes of both companies' IP.
"In the future, the two companies plan to discuss specific initiatives for collaboration, such as initiatives to adapt Kadokawa's IP into live-action films and TV dramas globally, co-produce anime works, expand global distribution of Kadokawa's anime works through the Sony Group, further expand publishing of Kadokawa's 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 consistently creates a wide variety of IP, including publications and books, such as light novels and comics, as well as games and anime," Sony president, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki said, "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.'
Kadokawa CEO Takeshi Natsuno added that the alliance "is expected to not only further strengthen our IP creation capabilities, but also increase our IP media mix options with Sony's support for global expansion, allowing us to deliver our IP to more users around the world."
How do you feel about Sony and Kadokawa's back-and-forth resulting in this alliance? Let us know below!