The Saudi Arabian sovereign fund has reduced its stake in Nintendo
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) from Saudi Arabia sold 17.3 million shares of Nintendo between August 21 and October 1, 2024. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing the fund's report to Japan's Ministry of Finance.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
As a result, PIF's stake in Nintendo decreased from 8.58% to 7.54%. Nevertheless, the fund remains one of the largest shareholders of the Japanese company, though the reason behind the decision to sell some shares is unknown.
It is noteworthy that last week, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, Vice Chairman of Savvy Games Group — a subsidiary of PIF — stated in an interview with Kyodo News that the fund might, over time, purchase more shares of Japanese gaming companies, including Nintendo. The recent sale of some shares was not mentioned during the interview.
To recall, PIF first invested in Nintendo in May 2022. At that time, it acquired a 5.01% stake in the company, and Nintendo itself claimed to have learned about the purchase from the news. According to media reports, this acquisition cost PIF $3 billion.
Besides Nintendo, PIF's portfolio currently includes shares in gaming companies such as Take-Two Interactive, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Koei Tecmo, NCSOFT, Capcom, and Nexon. Next year, the fund plans to transfer all of them to Savvy Games Group.
