Sony announced today that it had reached an agreement with SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. to sell its 9.52 million shares in Square Enix. The sale will net Sony approximately 4.8 billion yen ($47 million USD) and will see the company step away as the third biggest investor in Square Enix.
SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. is a leading financial securities company in Japan and will purchase Sony’s Square Enix shares for a final sale price to be revealed tomorrow. Sony’s reasons for offloading the shares will become clear when it releases its full-year financial results in May.
As such a large shareholder, Sony –and by extension, PlayStation — benefited from a range of exclusives including Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. In recent years Square Enix, as a publisher, has largely focused on multiplatform releases and so this sale of shares is unlikely to affect day to day business. What the sale means for Sony though will be unknown until it releases its financial results.
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