In recent weeks, a report circulated on the internet suggesting a possible acquisition of Kadokawa by Sony. Although rumors about the possibility of Sony acquiring Kadokawa indicated that it was already a done deal, at the time Kadokawa merely stated that no official decision had been made yet.
Now, after several weeks of speculation, new updates have been revealed on this matter that gave much to talk about in the otaku community and it seems that this “alliance” will be a reality.
Sony and KADOKAWA form alliance after reaching ¥50 billion deal
According to the information presented in the statement published on Sony’s official website, it was made official that both companies are forming a “Strategic Capital and Business Alliance”, which will make Sony the largest shareholder of Kadokawa, with approximately 10% of its shares, as of January 7, 2025.
With this acquisition, Sony will purchase 12,054,100 new Kadokawa shares for approximately 50 billion yen (US$318 million). It should be noted that Sony’s 10% stake in Kadokawa shares includes shares acquired in February 2021.
According to the release, Sony said the two companies will discuss specific collaboration initiatives, including “Initiatives to adapt Kadokawa’s intellectual property into live-action films and television dramas worldwide, as well as co-produce anime series, expand global distribution of such Kadokawa series through the Sony Group, expand Kadokawa’s video game publishing, and develop human resources to promote and expand virtual production.”
Additionally, Kadokawa stated that the alliance with Sony will enable “Further expansion of the scope of (Kadokawa’s) video game publishing” and the “Distribution of its publications (including manga) as e-books through the Sony Group.”
In addition, Kadokawa announced that it plans to allocate 20 billion yen from January 2025 to March 2030 for the purpose of “Creating, developing and acquiring new Intellectual property.” The remaining capital (29.7 billion yen) will be used to “Improve the global distribution of Intellectual property”.
The breakdown of the shareholders of the Japanese company Kadokawa after January 7 will be as follows:
- Korea Security Depository – Samsung: 10.01%
- The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd.: 9.76%
- Sony Group Corporation: 9.68%
- Goldman Sachs International: 7.33%
- Custody Bank of Japan, Ltd.: 5.58%
- Nobuo Kawakami: 4.41%
- Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation: 2.65%
- Nippon Life Insurance Company: 2.23%
- State Street Bank and Trust Company 505001: 2.13%
- Bandai Namco Holdings Inc.: 1.99%
- CyberAgent, Inc. 1.85%
After hearing this news… What do you think of this alliance between Kadokawa and Sony? How do you think it will impact the world of anime and what surprises does the future hold with respect to collaborations and franchises that could reach other formats?
Do you have any concerns about the limitations with the content that might be available from now on, or do you think it’s all just the imagination of one group of people? Let us know what you think about the whole thing in the comments box below.