Bandai Namco And Sony Enter A 'Strategic Partnership' To Maximize Both Of their IP Value

On July 24th, multimedia corporations Sony and Bandai Namco have united in a "strategic business partnership". According to a report from Famitsu, the plan is for both companies to maximize intellectual property value for their respective brands. Along with the partnership, Sony also acquires 16 million shares of bandai namco stock. This grants the 2.5% shares as a shareholder, and equates to $464 million USD.

At 2.5% shareholder and a lot of cash invested, it may not seem like Sony will be having a heavy say in decision-making for the tekken 8 producer. This joint move may have a greater investment in anime and manga. Sony currently owns the anime streaming platform Crunchyroll, and also has a 10% share in Kadokawa Corporation, the parent company of FromSoftware, who developed popular games like the Dark Souls series and Elden Ring. On the anime and manga side, Kadokawa Corporation owns the publishing rights to Re:Zero and Konosuba.

"Through this partnership, we hope to work with the Bandai Namco Group, whose strengths lie in 360-degree development centered on diverse IP and deep ties with fans at real touchpoints both in Japan and overseas, to co-create a variety of content and experiences that exceed expectations and deliver excitement to even more fans," said Representative Executive Officer and CSO of Sony Group Corporation Toshimoto Mitomo. By combining the strengths of both companies in the entertainment field and drawing out the potential of attractive IP, we will further accelerate our efforts to maximize IP value in order to realize Sony's long-term vision, Creative Entertainment Vision."

Executive Vice President of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. Nobuhiko Momoi sees this method as an "IP axis strategy" to maximize the full value of both brands' intellectual properties on a worldwide scale.

I feel that we can create new entertainment by combining the strengths and technological capabilities of the Sony Group in the wide range of entertainment fields with Bandai Namco's IP axis strategy, and I am full of excitement. Through this collaboration, we would like to connect with IP fans around the world, co-create the future together, and realize our purpose "Fun for All into the Future" and our medium- to long-term vision "Connect with Fans."