Sony Music Japan to Become GungHo's Largest Shareholder in Business Alliance
Sony Music Entertainment Japan is set to become GungHo's largest shareholder, putting its IP catalog behind joint game development with the Puzzle & Dragons maker.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime News Network.
GungHo Online Entertainment announced a capital and business alliance with Sony Music Entertainment Japan. SME will acquire 12,006,500 GungHo shares from SON Financial LLC for about 28.6 billion yen (roughly US$179 million) in an off-market transaction. Pending regulatory approval, SME becomes GungHo's largest shareholder and an affiliated company. The two will explore joint development and operation of smartphone, console, and PC games, plus new projects using SME Group IP. GungHo keeps its Tokyo Stock Exchange listing.
GungHo's leadership changed earlier this year: CEO, President, and Representative Director Kazuki Morishita stepped down on February 1, and Kazuya Sakai, previously CFO and Director, took over the same day. The companies signed a share transfer agreement on Friday and plan to close the acquisition by December 30. Pending regulatory approvals, SME becomes GungHo's largest shareholder and an affiliated company, while GungHo keeps its Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market listing. SME launched its game publishing label UNTIES in October 2017. GungHo is known for Puzzle & Dragons, hosts the Japanese server of Ragnarok Online, and has worked on TEPPEN, Ninjala, and Disney Pixel RPG.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.