Sony financial IPO may subsidize PS3 cost
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Sep 4th 2007 at 6:30PM }
Sony will sell about $2.9 billion worth of shares in a new IPO for its insurance unit, Japan's biggest IPO this year. 34.5 percent of Sony Financial Holding Inc. will go on sale in the Tokyo Stock Exchange on October 11th. It's expected that the money generated from the IPO will raise funds for the consumer electronics and games divisions."Sony could use the funds for various options to strengthen its electronics and game businesses,'' said Mitsuhiro Osawa, a Tokyo-based analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. "A cut in the price of the PlayStation 3 is one option,'' said Osawa.
Analysts are predicting that another PS3 price cut may happen in the coming months. Certainly, the gain of nearly $3 billion in funds will certainly help subsidizing any losses that Sony would incur from such a move.
[Via GI.biz]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ClarkyCat @ Sep 4th 2007 6:50PM
I love how people are going to look up IPO on Wikipedia and pretend they knew what it meant all along.
Jeff @ Sep 4th 2007 6:51PM
I think Sony would want to focus more on the format than console war, I am probably wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if Warner made a little announcement.
jyorgan @ Sep 4th 2007 8:49PM
The "story" is Sony is making a new public offering to determine demand in a tenuous market sector.
This didn't even come from Sony.
It is a third party analysts "opinion" that: "Sony could use the funds for various options to strengthen its electronics and game businesses."
Don't really see what this has to do with the PS3.
Kxpuc @ Sep 4th 2007 7:29PM
@2 helping the console helps the format indirectly at worse. Hell i wouldn't have 6 Blu-ray movies if it wasn't for the PS3
Anthony Pittarelli @ Sep 4th 2007 7:51PM
im totally going to buy some of this freed up sony stock, in a couple years the profit margin is a probably a safe %25
ekbigpimping @ Sep 4th 2007 8:42PM
I was on Xbox360fanboy.com and I notice that they are getting Marvel vs. capcom on the marketplace I envy them I just wish that Sony can score this for the Ps Store I would get this first day
ruibing @ Sep 4th 2007 9:06PM
I think its both for the format war and the console war, which are fortunately tied together for Sony. Cheaper PS3s, more games, and more blu ray movies will all support a win for Sony in the long run.
upz @ Sep 4th 2007 9:26PM
No, they're not getting it. Some talking head at Marvel just said it'd be nice. Another thing that'd be nice is if PS3 got Bioshock, but guess what?
John @ Sep 4th 2007 9:39PM
KsE 79, what a MEH comment! You didn't say why you preferred 360, I mean, what games are you playing?
Bioshock, Schmioshock. Ratchet and Clank and Little Big Planet are not coming to 360. Sure, diehards don't care. But these two titles will be BANGIN come holiday retail, for all those people at Target and Wal-Mart who are busy raising kids and don't have time to profess opinions on here.
Kspraydad @ Sep 4th 2007 10:15PM
In a Bloomberg article from Aug 15 quoting a SONY exec from May 2007 made it seem that the money raised from the IPO will be used by Sony Financial themselves:
Quote:
The firm needs to raise funds to expand because ``Sony Financial is getting bigger,'' Hiromichi Fujikata, the company's executive vice president, said in Tokyo on May 25.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aq.zuWB70IZs