Sony Group Corporation has officially announced that it has signed an alliance partnership with the Kadokawa Corporation to acquire over 12 million shares on January 7, 2025. The deal will cost approximately $320 million. With this acquisition of shares, Sony Group will became the majority stakeholder and Kadokawa Corporation’s largest shareholder as it will gain 10 percent of shares in addition to the shares it acquired back in 2021. Sony Group Corporation claims it does not plan to acquire additional shares after this acquisition. The Kadokawa corporation is a conglomerate that is involved with several media, publishers, and franchises. It is the parent company of ACQUIRE, Gotcha Gotcha Games, Spike Chunsoft, and FromSoftware, the developer of Elden Ring.
Sony’s message regarding the recent share acquisition:
Kadokawa and Sony historically have collaborated on various projects, and through this capital and business alliance, intend to further strengthen our collaboration to maximize both companies’ [intellectual property] 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’ [intellectual property]. In the future, the two companies plan to discuss specific initiatives for collaboration, such as initiatives to adapt Kadokawa’s [intellectual property] 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.
Kadokawa Corporation chief executive officer Takeshi Natsuno commented on the announcment in a press release:
“We are very pleased to conclude this capital and business alliance agreement with Sony. This alliance is expected to not only further strengthen our [intellectual property] creation capabilities, but also increase our [intellectual property] media mix options with Sony’s support for global expansion, allowing us to deliver our [intellectual property] to more users around the world. We are confident that this will greatly contribute to maximizing the value of our [intellectual property] and increasing our corporate value in the mid- to long-term. We intend to do our utmost to ensure that our collaborative efforts with Sony produce great results in the global market.”
Sony Group Corporation president Hiroki Totoki added:
“Through this capital and business alliance, we will become the largest shareholder of Kadokawa, which consistently creates a wide variety of [intellectual property], including publications and books, such as light novels and comics, as well as games and anime. By combining Kadokawa’s extensive [intellectual property] and [intellectual property] 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 [intellectual property], and Sony’s long-term vision, ‘Creative Entertainment Vision.’”
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