PS4 company Sony to sell its entire stake in Square Enix, valued at around R496.28 ($47) million

[Edelweiss]

PlayStation 4 company Sony will sell its entire stake in Final Fantasy developer Square Enix, Sony announced today in a Japanese news release. Translated by the Wall Street Journal, the announcement states that Sony will unload its entire position, 9.52 million shares, in a transaction worth around ¥4.8 billion yen (R496.28 ($47) million).

Major Japanese brokerage firm SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. will oversee the transfer. The deal is expected to be officially closed on April 17. It is the latest example of Sony attempting to become more efficient and boost profitability.

In the past year, Sony has announced that it will sell two major office buildings, lay off thousands of employees, and even sell its PC division as a means to return to profitability.

You might be surprised to learn that Sony held a stake in Square Enix, but in fact the PlayStation company's investment in the Final Fantasy studio dates back to the early 2000s. The Wall Street Journal points out that Sony actually held 8.2 percent of Square Enix's total shares.

Gamespot

[Tom]

Yho... This doesnt bode well for Final Fantasy... Hopefully it doesnt negatively impact the franchise...

Quite scary to think 8.2% of Square Enix is worth$47.... So basically the company is worth half a Billion Dollars

[Duke Dude]

I dunno who this is worse for, SE or Sony?

Sony has been in financial straight for many moons now so this might be their way of cutting their losses?
Or Sony just don't see a future with SE due to it's recent slew of "unsuccessful" releases.

[Edelweiss]

I dunno who this is worse for, SE or Sony?

Sony has been in financial straight for many moons now so this might be their way of cutting their losses?
Or Sony just don't see a future with SE due to it's recent slew of "unsuccessful" releases.

I think the latter. SE is pretty much a dead weight with the exception of the successful reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise.

[Grievous]

Does anyone not know that Sony makes the playstation?

[MetalSoup]

Does anyone not know that Sony makes the playstation?

Yeah that's a really weird title. It's like saying "iPhone company Apple" or "Windows 8 company Microsoft"

[Duke Dude]

I think the latter. SE is pretty much a dead weight with the exception of the successful reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise.

I really hope not. SE is one of my fav developers (Even with their recent history), they have delivered class titles and I still very much enjoyed FF13.

I hope their recent comments about changing the focus of the company and going back to their roots see them return to pedigree.

[XbatousaiX]

Hey Square can deliver just look at Final Fantasy A Realm Reborn that's quality.Sony should have sold those shares long ago they are not getting any exclusives from Square anymore so why hang on to it.