Reuters reported on Tuesday that Sony is in talks to acquire Kadokawa. According to Reuters’ two sources “familiar with the matter,” the talks are ongoing, and a deal could be signed in the coming weeks. Sony declined to comment to Reuters on the acquisition talks, and Kadokawa said it cannot give any comments.

Sony already has a 2% stake in Kadokawa and a stake in its subsidiary FromSoftware (Elden Ring RPG developer).

Aniplex is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SMEJ). Animation studios A-1 Pictures and CloverWorks are subsidiaries of Aniplex.

Sony‘s Funimation Global Group completed its acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T on August 9, 2021, after the company first announced the acquisition in December 2020. The purchase price was US$1.175 billion, and the proceeds were paid in cash at closing. Funimation‘s home video releases are now listed under Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll reached over 15 million paid subscribers to the anime streaming service as of this year.

Sony announced in May that it will launch an academy to develop talent to create anime. The academy will aim to “[nurture] anime creators in global markets, mainly by Aniplex and Crunchyroll with collaboration from across the industry.”

Kadokawa acquired anime studio Doga Kobo in July. Kadokawa‘s anime studios now include Doga Kobo ENGI, Studio KADAN, Raging Bull, and the newly formed Bellnox Films, as well as the affiliated companies Kinema Citrus and Studio Chizu.

Kadokawa was hit by a cyber attack that included ransomware on June 8. Its Dwango subsidiary’s Niconico video resumed some of its services on August 5, after the cyber attack.

Update: Kadokawa‘s publishing companies include Kadokawa Key-Process (which handles the imprints ASCII Media Works, Enterbrain, Fujimi Shobo, and Media Factory), KADOKAWA Game Linkage (which publishes B’s-LOG, Comptiq, Dengeki Nintendo, and Weekly Famitsu), J-Novel Club, and Yen Press. Its game subsidiaries include Acquire, FromSoftware, Gotcha Gotcha Games, and Spike Chunsoft.

Source: Reuters (Anirban Sen and Sam Nussey) via Gematsu

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.