The Japanese company Sony Group Corporation has officially confirmed its interest in purchasing Kadokawa Corporation, while employees of the media holding itself are allegedly happy about the potential new owner.
Image source: Bandai Namco
Let us remind you that Reuters previously reported that Sony was aiming to buy Kadokawa. The company confirmed that it had received an initial letter of intent from Sony, but the Japanese platform holder itself has remained silent until now.
In a statement to Yahoo Japan, a Sony Group spokesperson said: “It is true that we made an initial statement of intent. We would prefer to refrain from further comment.”
Image source: Gematsu
As for the sentiments at Kadokawa, an unnamed company employee spoke about them in an interview with the Japanese magazine Bunshun. According to him, employees are unhappy with CEO and President Takeshi Natsuno.
«The Natsuno administration didn’t even bother to hold a press conference after employees’ personal data was leaked as a result of a hacker attack. They expect that if Sony buys the company, it will get rid of the president first,” a source told Bunshun.
The attack on Kadokawa happened in the summer and resulted in more than 1.5 TB of data in the hands of hackers (image source: Japan News)
According to Bunshun, former chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa of the Kadokawa founding family was surprised by reports of negotiations with Sony, but was positive about the potential deal.
It is assumed that with the purchase, Sony hopes to strengthen its entertainment portfolio: Kadokawa is engaged in anime and manga, and also owns several game studios, including FromSoftware (Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Elden Ring).