Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has acquired a 5.01 percent stake in Nintendo Co, marking its third investment into a Japanese games company as the industry consolidates.
The $500 billion Public Investment Fund said the Nintendo purchase was made for investment purposes, according to a filing to Japan’s Finance Ministry.
The same reason was given for previous industry investments. With the 5 percent holding, the PIF is set to become Nintendo’s fifth-largest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Saudi Arabia has been beefing up efforts to create its own content industry, and this series of investments in Japanese game companies is likely a way for them to learn from Japan,” Hideki Yasuda, a senior analyst at Toyo Securities told Bloomberg.
The PIF has been building stakes in video game makers and e-sports firms over the past two years, turning to the Japanese market just as a weaker yen has made investments more affordable.
The Saudi fund disclosed stakes of more than 5 percent stakes in two Japan-listed gaming firms this year: Capcom Co., the maker of the Street Fighter and Resident Evil franchises, and online games provider Nexon Co.
A Nintendo spokesman told Bloomberg that the company learned about the Saudi investment from news reports and would not comment on individual shareholders.
Japan’s gaming companies have been the subject of speculation amid a broader wave of consolidation in the industry.
Sony Group Corp is also buying Bungie Inc., the US video game developer behind the popular Destiny and Halo franchises, for $3.6 billion.
Kyoto-based Nintendo reported lacklustre financial results last week as the creator of Super Mario struggles to revitalise its five-year-old Switch console and manage a global chip shortage, Bloomberg reported.
The company projected full-year operating income below analysts’ estimates and said it’s expecting to sell 21 million Switch devices this year, shy of the 21.7 million anticipated.
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