Tencenta buys 6.86% stake in Japanese publisher Kadokawa - PingWest

Tencenta buys 6.86% stake in Japanese publisher Kadokawa

Japanese game publisher Kadokawa announced on Friday that Tencent will acquire a 6.86% stake in it for 30 billion yen (about $264 million).

Details: 

Tencent subsidiary Sixjoy will buy 4.86 million shares of Kadokawa and the transaction will take place between Nov. 15 and 26, according to the Japanese company's stock exchange filing.

The entire proceeds will be invested in content by March 2024, including to secure editors and producers, said Kadokawa.

The company said it “has decided to enter into a business alliance agreement with Tencent Group for the anime business to further promote the company’s IP-based Global Media Mix,” and “to form a capital alliance with Tencent Group."

After the acquisition, Tencent will become the company's third-largest shareholder.

Kadokawa publishes approximately 5,000 titles each year—from novels to comic books—and also runs Niconico, a video-sharing site.

Context:

Nikei Asia said that the move follows Tencent’s 65.7 billion yen investment in Rakuten in March. The Chinese tech giant's  investment in the online retail company raised concerns among some in Japan's government, which revised its foreign investment law last year to lower the minimum stake at which pre-screening is required to 1% from 10% for strategic industries. 

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