Sony is aiming to make more investments in the Entertainment space going forward than they did the current fiscal year to promote growth.
Sony is trying to gain a strong foothold in the Entertainment space with multiple acquisitions. They already have an incredibly profitable PlayStation console business but they also want to invest in other Entertainment mediums like the recent acquisition of Crunchy Roll and so on. They will use their operating cash flow to invest for growth inside the company.
In the official Sony report for their consolidated fiscal results Q3 FY2020, they shared an important statement on their future investments.
“We plan to utilize the excess operating cash flow from this fiscal year as a source of future strategic investment going forward.”
“Opportunities for investment, especially in the entertainment space, are steadily increasing and, during the period of our next mid-range plan, which will begin next fiscal year, we aim to make more investments for growth than we did during the current mid-range plan.”
Here are some of the recent acquisitions that Sony has made in the Entertainment space, as compiled on ResetERA.
Select Sony Entertainment M&A:
Awal – $430mm / February 2021
Crunchyroll – $1.2bn / December 2020
Pureflix Entertainment – Undisclosed / November 2020
Eleven Films – Undisclosed / June 2020
Whisper Films – Undisclosed / February 2020
Silvergate Media – $195mm / December 2019
Game Show Network – $380mm (+$130mm in dividends/earnouts) / November 2019
Insomniac Games – $229mm / November 2019
Manga Entertainment – Undisclosed / May 2019
EMI – $3.7bn / May 2018
Peanuts (Charlie Brown) – $178mm / May 2018
Funimation – $143mm / July 2017
Insomniac Games is the only major studio that they have acquired recently, but looking at their plans, they could make more acquisitions in the future especially after the heavy competition by Microsoft, who have recently acquired Bethesda and are rumored to have another major acquisition in place to help their Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
