On the early morning of April 16 JST, Bloomberg Japan reported that several companies are interested in buying Square Enix (Thank you, Yahoo Japan), the value of Square Enix stock exchanges on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose rapidly, showing that the market certainly bought these rumors by M&A, and “ス ク エ ニ 買 収” “Acquisition of Square Enix” is on trend in Japan. What company could buy Square Enix and is it possible for a non-Japanese company like Microsoft or Tencent to do it?
Square Enix or Square Enix Holdings?
According to reports, it is unclear whether any M&A transactions concern Square Enix or Square Enix Holdings as a whole. This is a very important detail.
Because it’s crucial to remember that, like many other Japanese brands, such as Sega or Konami, games are ultimately just one of the many sectors in which Square Enix Hodlings operates. With its Square Enix subsidiary.
Square Enix Holdings as a whole is not a gaming company, but an entertainment company. This indicates video games, but also mobile, arcade, cloud or manga games.
Square Enix and manga
Square Enix has its own manga publishing house, Gangan, which is one of the largest in Japan immediately after the mastodon such as Shueisha and Kodansha. Through Gangan, Square Enix has released popular manga titles such as Full Metal Alchemist, Seto no Hanayome, Soul Eater, Goblin Slayer. High Score Girl, The Apothecary Diaries or Eiyuu Kyoushitsu. Manga adaptations of all Square Enix games, such as the hearts of the kingdom serials, are also published by Gangan.
It’s worth it, considering who could buy it Final Fantasy devs
According to Bloomberg, Square Enix’s digital entertainment business accounted for 72% of its total sales at the end of March 2020. And although mobile is a huge part of Square Enix and the mobile market is huge, growth is currently declining. Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic obviously affected Square Enix in 2020 as well. Finally, Square Enix has a net worth of $ 1.3 billion.
Considering all of the above, if Square Enix Holdings as a whole is under discussion Merge & Acquisition, it is very likely to be acquired by another Japanese company, such as Sony.
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Of course, Square Enix Holdings does not own a casino in South Korea, such as Sega, or tons of gyms in Japan, such as Konami. But it still seems almost impossible to me legally for a non-Japanese company for Microsoft to take over Square Enix Holdings as a whole, from arcade to manga. But if Square Enix, the video game section, is sold, that’s another story.
Currently, Square Enix is working on Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, along with several other projects, including Final Fantasy XVI, FF7 Remake Part 2, The NieR Replicant remastering or Dragon Quest Games.
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