Following shortly after Japanese film and TV studio company Toei published a 10-year plan for international expansion, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) has increased its stake in the business, from 5% to 6.03%.
Toei includes film and TV production operations, the T-Joy cinema chain, and Toei Animation. In February of this year, it said that it had beaten its film revenue record, thanks to the success of titles including ‘The First Slam Dunk’, ‘The Legend of Butterfly’ and ‘One Piece Film Red’.
The increased investment follows PIF’s February announcement that it had boosted its stake in Japanese games and console maker Nintendo to 8.26% and that (along with the Singapore state fund GIC) was a purchaser of a $966 million bond issue from Korean entertainment tech firm, Kakao Corp.
PIF has stakes in three other Japanese games firms too – Nexon, Capcom and Koei Tecmo. It is also one of the prime movers behind LIV Golf, a golf tour to rival the currently dominant PGA.