Sony acquisition rumors cause FromSoftware parent company Kadokawa’s shares to skyrocket while Bandai Namco’s fall 

Share prices for Japan media conglomerate Kadokawa have reached record highs for the year on two consecutive days. This surge is driven by widely reported rumors that Sony is in talks to buy Kadokawa, which is the parent of game companies including Elden ring developer FromSoftware.  

The news that Sony may acquire Kadokawa broke on November 19. On that day at 2:30pm (JST) Kadokawa’s share price was at 3032 yen. In the following hours, the price continued to rise dramatically – hitting the daily limit at 3,745 yen at closing (700 yen higher than the previous day). It was valued at 4350 yen when the Tokyo Stock Market opened at 9am on November 20, and has continued to climb so far this morning. As of 10:30am, Kadokawa’s share price is 4,439yen.  

Conversely, the Sony acquisition rumors negatively impacted Bandai Namco’s share price- which temporarily plunged before the report was issued at 3:30pm yesterday, closing at 3,167 yen (down 127 yen). This morning, Bandai Namco’s shares continued to rise slightly before falling again, being worth 3097 yen as of 10:30am. This negative impact on Bandai Namco is due to concerns as to how Sony’s potential purchase of Kadakawa could impact them, seeing as Bandai Namco is currently a publisher for FromSoftware games like Elden Ring, which has made a huge contribution to Bandai Namco’s profits this year.  

If Sony were to acquire Kadokawa, it would be a big win for the company- not only giving them ownership of FromSoftware, but also major Japanese publisher and developer Spike Chunsoft, as well as smaller game related companies like RPG Maker dev Gotcha Gotcha Games and Acquire. Kadokawa Group companies cover an extensive range of media, publishing, education and entertainment businesses. This includes, but is not limited to, print media publishing, major anime IPs like Oshi no Ko, Re:Zero and Delicious in Dungeon, and Japan’s video streaming service Nico Nico Douga.