Just part of them diversifying their portfolio.
Yeah, you read that right; Saudi Arabia now owns 5% of Nintendo’s stock (well, 5.01%, to be exact). The stock is now part of the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
According to Bloomberg, the acquisition makes them the 5th largest shareholder in the company. Though it’s worth noting that the filing with Japan’s Finance Ministry states that this is only for investment purposes. As such, its not going to have any effect on Nintendo’s business decisions going forward.
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, Toyo Securities, speaking to Bloomberg
This is far from their first investment in a Japanese gaming company. Other additions to the PIF portfolio include Capcom and Nexon, both of which claiming a higher percentage of those companies stocks, respectively. Both also were filed with the same “investment purposes” reasoning.
Aside from that, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also invested personally in the likes of Take Two Interactive, EA, and Activision Blizzard (the last one probably hasn’t been paying off, recent of late). The Prince notably began his gaming stock acquisitions with SNK back in 2020, however, purchasing a third of their stock and becoming the majority owner.
Source: IGN
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