Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
One of the more interesting stories going on as we’ve come to the end of 2024 was Sony’s previously rumored interest in acquiring Japanese media company and FromSoftware parent company Kadokawa Group. Sony itself confirmed there were conversations happening, but this week saw Sony and Kadokawa finally reveal the terms of their latest business deal. In a strategic business alliance, Kadokawa is allotting over 12 million new shares of the company to Sony that will give the PlayStation producer control over 10 percent of Kadokawa’s overall stock.
Kadokawa and Sony announced the terms of this “strategic capital and business alliance” in a press release this week. Kadokawa will create and allot 12,054,100 new shares of its company to Sony for the overall price of 50 billion yen. With the new shares, and its previously purchaswed shares, Sony will have a 10 percent stake in Kadokawa once the deal goes through. It is expected that this transaction will be completed by January 7, 2025.
Sony’s interest in increasing its stake in Kadokawa has been a story going around for nearly a month, but most of the details were unconfirmed until this point. It was exactly one month ago that we began hearing reports of the two companies being in talks about a deal that many suspected might lead to Sony acquiring Kadokawa entirely. Sony itself even confirmed it had sent disclosure of initial intent for a deal with Kadokawa. Sony’s interest not only lies in FromSoftware, for which Kadokawa is a parent company, but also Kadokawa’s extensive media empire, which includes the likes of CrunchyRoll and the rights to various anime.
With this deal having been confirmed, Sony and Kadokawa also intend to discuss future collaborations, such as live-action adaptations, TV dramas, new anime series, and more. As we watch to see how it affects business between the two companies in January, stay tuned for further updates.