Have Capcom made a statement at all? I would guess being fam owned and selling gangbusters, it's just not a thought to them financially, incentives would have to come in other ways like wider Sony media synergies?
As I remember teh most similar thing they have is this M&A Policy they updated a couple years ago. But talks more about acquisitions they make -like the recent Swordcane outsourcing studio- instead than the possibility of being acquired:
"Capcom must increase sales in the Consumer Online Games Business outside Japan, where the market for these games is larger and there is much more growth potential, in order to maintain growth. Acquisitions and partnerships are one of the important strategies for increasing our market share overseas.
We aggressively seek the opportunities of acquisitions and partnerships for the purposes of creating game content with universal market appeal and acquiring technologies and know-how required for our “Single Content Multiple Usage” strategy.
However, a merger with a large Japanese game or toy manufacturer is not being considered as a serious option since it would not make a significant contribution to growth in our overseas sales. Furthermore, this type of merger also poses the risk of limiting our activities involving the licensing of game content.
We have never made any takeover bids (TOB). We understand that the human resources that create content are the most important assets in the entertainment industry. With a TOB, employee departures could significantly erode the value of the acquired company. We believe choosing an appropriate partner company that complements our strengths will lead to subsequent successful acquisition and contribute to the growth of our business.
The first objective, therefore, is to form partnerships that meet our needs as well as those of our partners."
https://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/management/ma.html
Maybe in some Q&A with investors said they aren't interested on selling the company, but I don't remember them talking about it. What I can tell you is that they never said to be interested or even considered to be acquired or to merge.
Saudis have bought a stake in Capcom.
Aw shit.
Edit: wait, does that ensure Capcom remain multiplatform at least?
Saudis bought a tiny minority stake, doesn't mean Capcom will sell the company. It only means Capcom is a public company, so every day someone buys or sells a tiny portion of this or that company. In this case the saudi family is interested on investing in gaming so they bought a tiny stake in many big gaming companies, which doesn't mean they plan to buy them.
Capcom and the family of the CEO plus the CEO's company Crossroads own like 40% of Capcom's shares. Then allied Japanese public funds and asset management companies own over 10% of Capcom shares. Meaning, the CEO controls the company directly or indirectly controlling the majority of the company shares. So he decides if he (well, the management board) wants to sell or not.
This is why Sony not buying big AAA studios. Playstation Brand honestly seems neglected
Why don't you just buy
Larian Studios
Remedy
Ember Lab
CD Projekt Red
Kojima Productions
Platinum Games
From Software
Sony?
When Sony said they weren't going to make acquisitions in the short term they weren't talking only about AAA games or about gaming. They were talking about any kind of acquisitions. Sony won't buy anyone this fiscal year.
Sony won't buy this company, or at least not in at least around 2 or 3 years. They said they'll continue with acquisitions in the mid to long term. Which aligns with when they estimate to have branched out and sold 80% of their bank division to get extra cash for acquisitions.
