It’s been confirmed that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has lowered its stake in Nintendo, which is a huge contradiction to the reports that have recently been released suggesting that Saudi Arabia was going to raise their stake in the Japanese company. Saudi Arabia first took a stake in Nintendo in 2022, and has slowly increased it over time. The stake started at 5.01% of Nintendo and raised up to 8.58%. However, CNBC reported that the PIF’s stake in Nintendo has been lowered from 8.58% to 7.54%. The decrease in the stake is relatively small, and overall keeps Saudia Arabia among Nintendo’s largest shareholders.
News reports have been swirling lately, with the news that Saudi Arabia was planning on upping its stake in Nintendo, with the reports flying in more frequently yesterday. The rumor that Saudi Arabia was going to up their stake came after news outlet Kyodo News cited comments that were made by Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan al-Saud, who is Vice Chairman at Savvy Games Group. The comments made were in September when he was asked about the potential of raising the stake in Nintendo as well as other companies that they have shares in. In these comments, he said, “It’s always a possibility,” and said that the partners’ consent is paramount.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has taken stakes in multiple game companies over the past couple of years, including major companies like Capcom, Nexon, and Koei Tecmo. Currently, the Savvy Games Group has a $1 billion stake in Embracer Group, a company known for having operative groups such as Plaion, Deca Games, Asmodee, and THQ Nordic, for example.
Earlier on in the year also saw more rumors floating around, as Nintendo’s shares hit a record high earlier in the year, as rumors about the Nintendo Switch 2 began to float around, as well as speculation that Saudi Arabia would begin to invest more into Nintendo, especially with the possibility of the Nintendo Switch 2 being released in the near future. However, since the announcement of the console, there has been minimal news about the Switch 2, so it makes sense that they have not upped their stake.
It’s not been said by Saudi Arabi’s Public Investment Fund as to why they have decided to lower their stake in Nintendo, but it’s possible that Nintendo’s financial issues have something to do with it, as they reported a 46% year-over-year drop of sales of the Nintendo Switch.
