The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, has emerged with a 5.01% stake in the video game developer and publisher Nintendo, as reported to the Japan Financial Services Agency on Wednesday. (FSA). Said fund is in the hands of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The Islamic country has been made, through its investment vehicle, with a package of 6.5 million shares. The total price paid was 410,607 million yen (3,021 million euros), which represents an average of 63,082 yen (464.2 euros) for each Nintendo title.
The participation of Saudi Arabia makes the country the fourth largest shareholder of the Japanese listed company, behind the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial bank (7.3%), the Japanese Government pension fund (6.88%) and the investment bank American JPMorgan Chase (5.14%).
After knowing the data, Nintendo’s price on the Tokyo Stock Exchange has registered an increase that has led the stock to close at 59,270 yen (436.1 euros), 3.51% above the price at the close of the Tuesday.
Nintendo’s current share price implies that the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund currently has a negative 6.04% return on its investment. Just over a year ago, Nintendo’s share price reached its all-time high, exceeding 68,000 yen (500 euros) per share.
It is not the only investment in the video game sector that the country has made. In February, the Fund revealed a stake of more than 5% in the also Japanese Capcom, equivalent to 332 million dollars (315 million euros) at that time. Likewise, another participation of more than 5% in the South Korean Nexon, valued then at 883 million dollars (839 million euros), also surfaced.
In early 2021, the Saudi Arabian investment vehicle also reported holdings in US video game developers Electronic Arts, Take-Two and Activision Blizzard. The acquisitions were valued at that time at around 3,300 million dollars (3,135 million euros)
2
