Tencent to Invest in Japanese Publishing Company Kadokawa to Strengthen Cooperation in Animation and Gaming Intellectual Property

Tencent announced on October 29 that it will acquire a 6.86% stake in Kadokawa for 30 billion yen ($263 million) via its subsidiary Sixjoy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent in Hong Kong. After the acquisition, the Chinese tech conglomerate will become Kadokawa’s third-largest shareholder.

This is Tencent‘s largest investment in a Japanese firm so far. The company will buy 4.86 million shares of Kadokawa at a price of 6170 yen per share, and the formal transaction will be held November 15-26.

Kadokawa said the transaction will enable it to enter into a business and capital alliance agreement with Tencent for the anime business, further promoting the company’s intellectual property-based global media mix.

In addition, the cooperation between the two parties will focus on animation and games, the implementation of Kokawa’s intellectual property strategy in China, and giving full play to Tencent‘s platform advantages.

Prior to this, Tencent had established Guangzhou Tianwen Kadokawa Animation and Comics Co., Ltd. in cooperation with Kokawa and China South Publishing & Media Group.

As a well-known publishing giant in Japan, Kadokawa has released novels adapted from famous animations and games such as “Weathering With You,” “Your Name,” “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.” In terms of publishing, Kadokawa has the copyright of works such as “Sword Art Online” and “Zero-Starting Life in Another World.”

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In terms of film and television, Kadokawa Films under Kadokawa has produced famous films such as “Witness,” “Rashomon,” and “Midnight Ring.” In terms of games, Fromsoftware, which developed the series of “Dark Souls” and “Bloodborne,” is a subsidiary of Kadokawa.