Tag: Sony

Japan – Globale entertainment giants Sony and Kadokawa have signed a strategic capital and business alliance agreement, agreeing to conduct a third-party allotment by Kadokawa to Sony on January 7, 2025, with Sony acquiring 12,054,100 new Kadokawa shares for approximately 50 billion yen. 

With the acquisition of the new shares, Sony will become Kadokawa’s largest shareholder, holding approximately 10% of its shares, including the shares Sony previously acquired in February 2021.

This officially confirms previous media reports related to Sony being interested in acquiring the entertainment giant, which specialises in Japanese media and entertainment offerings.

According to both parties, they intend to further strengthen their collaboration to maximise both companies’ IP value globally and facilitate wider and deeper collaboration, such as potential joint investments in the content field, joint discovery of new creators, and joint promotion of further media mixes of both companies’ IP. 

In the future, the two companies plan to discuss specific initiatives for collaboration, such as initiatives to adapt Kadokawa’s IP into live-action films and TV dramas globally, co-produce anime works, expand global distribution of Kadokawa’s anime works through the Sony Group, further expand publishing of Kadokawa’s games, and develop human resources to promote and expand virtual production.

Takeshi Natsuno, chief executive officer at Kadokawa said, “We are very pleased to conclude this capital and business alliance agreement with Sony. This alliance is expected to not only further strengthen our IP creation capabilities, but also increase our IP media mix options with Sony’s support for global expansion, allowing us to deliver our IP to more users around the world.”

He added, “We are confident that this will greatly contribute to maximising the value of our IP and increasing our corporate value in the mid- to long-term. We intend to do our utmost to ensure that our collaborative efforts with Sony produce great results in the global market.”

Meanwhile, Hiroki Totoki, president, COO and CFO at Sony Group, commented, “Through this capital and business alliance, we will become the largest shareholder of Kadokawa, which consistently creates a wide variety of IP, including publications and books, such as light novels and comics, as well as games and anime.”

He added, “By combining Kadokawa’s extensive IP and IP creation ecosystem with the strengths of Sony, which has promoted the global expansion of a wide range of entertainment, including anime and games, we plan to work closely together to realise Kadokawa’s ‘Global Media Mix’ strategy, aimed at maximising the value of its IP, and Sony’s long-term vision, ‘Creative Entertainment Vision.’”

Singapore – Sony Group is reportedly in talks to buy Kadokawa, the Japanese media conglomerate giant, according to a recent report from Reuters. In it, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed ongoing talks between the two parties.

The report also notes that should the talks be successful, a deal can be signed in the coming weeks.

Should the deal proceed, this will make Sony the handler of a large chunk of Japanese media offerings on a global scale, which encompasses physical and digital publications, game development, animation studios, as well as other related overseas subsidiaries and owned entities.

In 2021, Sony’s anime distribution service Funimation completed the acquisition of fellow anime streaming service Crunchyroll from global telco network AT&T for a disclosed amount of US$1.175b.

Since then, the company has expanded its reach to more markets globally, including in Asia-Pacific. Earlier this year, Crunchyroll made its move in Indonesia to launch a localised campaign to celebrate more localised content for Indonesian anime fans.

In a recent exclusive interview with MARKETECH APAC, Akshat Sahu, senior director of marketing for APAC at Crunchyroll stated then that the platform’s expansion is in response to growing appetite for anime content in region–albeit to increasing competition from other streaming platforms–local and international.

“We’re ramping up our expansion to meet this demand by bringing fans closer to the anime they love. Our aim is to create a localised experience that caters to the unique cultural and consumption preferences of each market. By expanding further into Southeast Asia, we aim to provide fans with seamless access to an extensive collection of anime and introduce them to new and exciting titles at the same time as they stream in Japan,” he said.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Sony YAY!, a kids entertainment channel under Sony Pictures Networks India, has launched on Malaysia’s unifi TV, owned by Telekom Malaysia. The channel is in the Tamil language and includes seven kid’s entertainment shows including Sab Jholmaal Hai (Honey Bunny), Guru Aur Bhole, Taarak Mehta Ka Chhota Chashma, Kicko & Super Speedo, Paap-O-Meter, Prince Jai aur Dumdaar Viru and HaGoLa.

Sony YAY! is expected to tap into the prominent Tamil-speaking population of the region which comprises a total of 1.8 million people – the third highest in the world, after India and Sri Lanka. Considering the significant size of the Tamil-speaking audience in this region, the launch is a perfect opportunity for the channel to extend its content offerings to an expanded audience base across the South Asian market. 

The launch of the channel in Tamil on one of the largest platforms Telekom Malaysia Berhad (unifi TV) is further set to aid the channel in terms of reach and access. Sony YAY! will be accessible to the subscribers of unifi TV under the Varnam Plus Pack and the Ultimate Pack.

Speaking of the launch, Leena Lele Dutta, EVP and business head at Sony YAY!, said, the span of five years since we launched Sony YAY! the channel has rapidly risen to become the number one kid’s entertainment channel in India. The current Indian channel portfolio in Malaysia has a huge potential and with the launch of Sony YAY! in Malaysia, we will be leveraging this opportunity and extending our diverse range of enthralling kid’s entertainment options to an extremely new and vibrant set of audiences. The launch has made us optimistic about newer opportunities that we can explore to reach young audiences across geographies.”

Meanwhile, Neeraj Arora, EVP and head of international business at Sony Pictures Networks India, commented, “As one of the fastest-growing kid’s entertainment channels in the Indian subcontinent, Sony YAY! has consistently made efforts to become the ultimate entertainment solution in the kid’s genre. The channel has curated and brought a bouquet of international shows and IPs to Indian audiences. This partnership with Telekom Malaysia Berhad will help us cater to the appetite of the rapidly growing audience across the Malaysian market and solidify our position in the global kid’s entertainment segment by bringing popular Indian shows to global audiences.”

Tel Aviv, Israel – In-game advertising platform Anzu.io has announced the conclusion of its funding series, successfully raising US$9M to aid the company’s global expansion of its in-game advertising platform, with the help of venture capital groups BITKRAFT Ventures and HBSE Ventures, as well as marketing services organization WPP and Sony Innovation Fund, the corporate venture capital arm of multinational conglomerate Sony.

The funding series has also seen the participation of venture capitals Alumni Ventures Group and Goal Ventures, as well as angel investors Marc Merrill, co-founder, co-chairman, and former co-CEO of Riot Games, and Dylan Collins, co-founder and CEO of SuperAwesome, a kid-safe ad platform recently acquired by Epic Games.

Anzu.io’s funding series coincides with the increasing popularity and market ‘boom’ of the gaming industry. Statistics from market intelligence group Mordor Intelligence estimate that the gaming industry’s value is expected to be around US$257B by 2025.

“Gaming is one activity that has exploded over the past year and increasingly an important advertising channel. In partnership with Anzu, together with our agencies, we can make it simpler for them to reach the growing audience in the esports and gaming space,” said Mark Read, CEO of WPP.

Through the accumulated funding, Anzu.io will be pushing its presence globally starting with the United States, followed by Singapore and China, and other core locations to be announced. With partner brands including game publishers Ubisoft, Lion Castle, and Nacon and global brands Pepsico, Samsung, American Eagle, and Vodafone, Anzu.io will feature advertisements of partner brands through programmatic technology blending of real-world ads into video games, esports tournaments, and live streams, enhancing games’ realism and transforming game objects into valuable advertising opportunities.

“Anzu has been delivering the technology they promised and growing their industry footprint. We are excited to join this funding round and support Anzu, entering a new phase of growth in in-game advertising. The company’s gamer-first attitude will enable developers to access new business models and bring advertisers closer to gamer audiences without disturbing gameplay,” says Gen Tsuchikawa, CEO and chief investment officer at Innovation Growth Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund.

Meanwhile, Itamar Benedy, co-founder and CEO at Anzu commented, “We are proud to have global leaders in advertising, entertainment, gaming, esports, and venture capital invest in Anzu’s next stage of growth. These trailblazers are the perfect combination of strategic partners to help us maintain our dominating position as we enter 2021.”

For Jens Hilgers, founding general partner at BITKRAFT, their recent participation at Anzu.io’s funding series means redefining the aspect of modern in-game advertising.

“Since our initial investment, the Anzu team has built the most sophisticated platform to deliver blended in-game advertising at scale in the higher-end games segment. The impressive line up of game integrations combined with brands executing unique campaigns on the platform has validated Anzu’s market position and technology,” Hilgers commented.