Sony has entered a strategic capital and business alliance agreement with Kadokawa Corporation to acquire a large number of Kadokawa’s shares next month, in January 2025.

The new capital and business agreement will see Sony acquiring 12,054,100 new Kadokawa shares for approximately 50 billion yen (roughly $319,447,500 USD), or 10% of Kadokawa’s shares.

The new agreement will make Sony the largest shareholder of Kadokawa, all of which includes their shared acquired back in 2021. According to the new agreement, Sony is not seeking to get more Kadokawa shares.

Here’s Sony’s blurb on acquiring the new Kadokawa shares:

KADOKAWA and Sony historically have collaborated on various projects, and through this capital and business alliance, intend to further strengthen our collaboration to maximize 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.

“We are very pleased to conclude this capital and business alliance agreement with Sony,” said Kadokawa Corp CEO Takeshi Natsuno. “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. We are confident that this will greatly contribute to maximizing 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.”

Sony president, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki added, “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. 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 realize KADOKAWA’s ‘Global Media Mix’ strategy, aimed at maximizing the value of its IP, and Sony’s long-term vision, ‘Creative Entertainment Vision.’”