Sony has been trying to acquire From Software parent company for years

Recently, massive Japanese media company, Kadokawa, revealed that it has received a letter of intent from Sony, notifying the board of directors that a serious acquisition offer is on the table. As it turns out, this isn't the first time that Sony discussed a merger with Kadokawa. 

According to a Bloomberg report, Sony and Kadokawa have been “testing the waters” over a merger for years at this point. However, Sony has apparently expressed interest in only acquiring parts of the company up to this point, whereas Kadokawa bosses would prefer to have the whole company purchased outright.

Predictably, Sony primarily wants Kadokawa's anime and manga related assets to strengthen its position. In recent years, Sony has also acquired massive anime companies, Crunchyroll and Funimation, so acquiring Kadokawa would give them even more of a grip over the anime market.

Obviously, Sony is also interested in Kadokawa's gaming-related assets, as they are the current parent company of From Software, creators of Elden Ring and Dark Souls.

It is worth noting that Sony acquiring Kadokawa outright would be no small feat, as Kadokawa (has a higher market cap than Sony. Due to this, despite Sony's strength in the anime market, the acquisition would be unlikely to raise monopoly concerns amongst regulators.

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KitGuru Says: Kadokawa isn't well known outside of Japan, but the company is absolutely massive in Japan and has seen consistent growth for over a decade. With that in mind, Kadokawa probably isn't in a rush to sell. 

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