This time it bought a stake in Nintendo. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said it purchased a 5.01% stake in Nintendo for $2.98 billion. As a result, PIF has become the fifth largest shareholder of Nintendo.
For the past two years, PIF has been purchasing shares of global major game companies such as Capcom, EA, Activision Blizzard, Take Two, and SNK.
Furthermore, it has acquired large stakes in Korean companies such as Nexon and NC this year. Currently, PIF holds a 9.26 percent stake in NC and is the second-largest shareholder after CEO Taekjin Kim. It also owns 9.14% of Nexon’s stake, which is also the second largest shareholder.
PIF was originally a holding company for the Saudi government’s stake in public companies, but has served as a global investment agency for the Saudi government as Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman was in charge of the operation since 2017. In line with the Saudi government’s stance to reduce dependence on oil and invest in new industries, it is actively making international investments in IT.
Meanwhile, on the 10th, Nintendo started to improve investment accessibility through stock split for the first time in 31 years. The decision was made at a time when switch sales fell 9% year-on-year in the aftermath of a lack of semiconductor supply.
Meanwhile, Prince Bin Salman, who actually owns and operates the PIF, has been embroiled in a number of controversies. He is suspected of pushing for tough reforms when he took the crown prince’s post in 2017, and detaining several high-ranking officials in his country for years.
Furthermore, the U.S. National Intelligence Service released a report stating that Crown Prince Bin Salman ordered the assassination of Saudi prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi, who was originally closely related to the Saudi royal family, was a person who regularly contributed articles criticizing the Saudi royal family to the Washington Post after defecting to the United States in 2017.
JULIE KIM
ASIA JOURNAL
