Hong-Kong based activist investment fund Oasis Management Company recently announced that it has significantly increased its stake in Japanese publishing giant Kadokawa, also known as the parent company of Elden Ring developer FromSoftware. According to a report submitted to the Ministry of Finance on June 23, Oasis has bought an additional 2,215,200 shares in the company, increasing its stake from 13.76% to 15.25%. As reported by Game Biz, the hedge fund has been intermittently purchasing Kadokawa’s shares since May 18, one million of which were acquired in an off-market transaction on June 16.
Oasis Management Company is known as an activist investor, meaning that it seeks to buy significant stakes in companies in order to influence how they are managed, usually with the purpose of increasing shareholder returns (not to be confused with political activism). Its major goals within Kadokawa include improving the company’s corporate value in the mid to long-term, enhancing the effectiveness of the board of directors, and improving corporate governance. Additionally, it aims to maximize revenue from Kadokawa’s major IPs through strategies like AI use, effective utilization of assets, review of the shareholder structure, and revisions of the company’s M&A strategy and capital policy.
The fund has been steadily acquiring shares in Kadokawa since March this year, going from an 8.86% stake to an 11.85% stake over the course of a few weeks, and becoming the company’s largest shareholder with 13.76% ownership by the end of the month. However, it doesn’t seem like Oasis is planning to stop. While it currently owns a 15.25% stake, the hedge fund is considering increasing its ownership by more than 5% in the following period, and may proceed with additional purchases both on and off the market, if given the necessary approvals.
The recent report also revealed that Oasis intends to make proposals to Kadokawa regarding appointments and dismissals of representative directors and changes in the composition of the board of directors, as well as how the publisher handles business transfers, dividend policies and other important matters related to its capital policy.
Oasis has already made significant moves in this field after becoming the company’s largest shareholder in March 2025. Notably, in May, it published a 130-pages-long document pushing for the removal of Kadokawa’s current CEO from his position and criticizing the company’s management policies – including “profit leakage” due to FromSoftware’s reliance on third parties for publishing. Meanwhile, Kadokawa has dismissed Oasis’ attempts to oust its CEO for now and has criticized much of its talking points as lacking fundamental understanding of the company’s circumstances.
