By Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) – Kadokawa’s shares jumped 16% in early Tokyo trading on Wednesday, a day after Reuters reported Sony was in talks to acquire the publishing, anime and gaming powerhouse.
Shares in Kadokawa, which controls “Elden Ring” developer FromSoftware, closed up 23% at their daily limit on Tuesday after the news.
The deal would bolster Sony’s entertainment portfolio which spans games, movies, music and anime.
“Anime and manga are conquering the world and Sony knows this,” said Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy.
“They need firepower if they want to be a big player in these markets so they went for Kadokawa,” he said.
Sony owns anime streaming service Crunchyroll and anime planning company Aniplex, which has built a reputation for high quality series such as “Demon Slayer”.
“Adding Kadokawa anime planning/producing capacity would enhance (Aniplex’s) offerings,” Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a note.
“Furthermore, Kadokawa originates its own (intellectual property) through its publishing business, it would strengthen Aniplex by adding original IP,” Goyal added.
The anime market is expected to roughly double to $60 billion by 2030.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Christopher Cushing)
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