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[Regginator]

'Gracefully decline' = they can go fuck themselves

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

Nah you don't get how publicly traded companies work. The shareholders decide, if a company pays enough than the CEO cannot say no unless he owns the majority of the shares.

Japanese corporations are protected by the law against aquisition. I think Capcom is level 2. You just can’t buy them like that.

Can someone with a better understanding of Japan legislation give us some more details (i think it was done on other threads) ?

 

[Woopah]

So in that case, did Nintendo shareholders laugh MS out of the room? I thought it never went to them, and the execs just shunned that idea right away.

It was management, since MS didn't (and still doesn't) want to do a hostile takeover of Nintendo.

While technically a BOD agreement is not required in rarer scenarios (hostile takeovers), typically it is. Capcom are not talking about a potential hostile takeover bid here, that much is clear. If not they wouldn't be speaking from a position of absolute authority.

If Microsoft want to go down the road of one of the aforementioned rarer scenarios (whether it's for Capcom or any other Japanese business) then I wish them well.

Agreed. Capcom is just talking about how they would respond to a request. It would then be up to MS to decide if they want to proceed with a hostile takeover.

These are all hypotheticals anyway, since MS isn't attempting to acquire Capcom.

 

[rofif]

Capcom got better output than first party

 

[Heisenberg007]

It was management, since MS didn't (and still doesn't) want to do a hostile takeover of Nintendo.

We're back to square one then

The management decided to laugh them out of the room and did not even bring that offer to Nintendo shareholders who may have signed it, right? That means the management can reject the offer, even before taking it to shareholders, if they think it is not in the company's benefit.

 

[Little Mac]

Off topic but I'd kick Ryu's ass in a ring.

 

[Woopah]

We're back to square one then

The management decided to laugh them out of the room and did not even bring that offer to Nintendo shareholders who may have signed it, right? That means the management can reject the offer, even before taking it to shareholders, if they think it is not in the company's benefit.

Management can reject it, but MS can decide to approach Nintendo's shareholders anyway and make the offer directly.

But as I said above this is all just hypothetical and not something I think MS will actually do.

 

[RoboFu]

So this is going to be the going click bait from “journalists “ now?

 

[Nankatsu]

Konami belongs with Playstation…Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania etc has WAAAAAYYYYY more relevance and history with PS and Ninty than it ever has with Xbox…
Its why none of these stupid acquisitions make sense, Metal Gear as a Xbox exclusive? I’d rather give up gaming..
No Xbox needs to actually have a pipeline in place first, its now the single largest publisher yet it has the absolute worst track record with so few releases its a joke. Sort that shit out first before even thinking ‘hurr durr needz moarz stubios…’, it should go without saying at this point.

I agree, but I don't think Microsoft will stop with Activision acquisition. Their strategy is simply acquire, acquire, acquire, chock Playstation and Nintendo in the process and hope for "the best".

 

[Panajev2001a]

I feel like Microsoft would lose a good amount of its "pro consumer" image that Phil Spencer has been trying to build if it pinned down Capcom and went "We're gonna own you whether you like it or not"

They do not care and not sure evangelist fans care either, as long as they “win”. Even if they win a burned down industry .

Anyways, the “thought experiment” continues…

 

[RoboFu]

Let’s be clear though.. MS hasn’t bought anyone that didn’t want to be bought.

Fanboys are so weird .. what’s the term?? Selective outrage? It’s like with Sony buying exclusive deals. Everyone blames Sony but never the game publisher who were probably the ones offering the deal in the first place.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

So I got my answer from a couple of days ago:

2 weeks ago: Starfield threads
1 week ago: Xbox threads
This week: Companies saying no to being bought my Microsoft threads

 

[Audiophile]

Would be nice if MS would build up their own stuff rather than acquiring already highly successful industry titans. Sony do their own buying, but the bulk of their studios were acquired when they were much smaller and grown over time with PS pretty much being a part of their DNA, or were intrinsically linked for a long time before purchase.

 

[jm89]

Capcom gracefully declining when Phil shows up.

 

[Astray]

They literally namedropped Apple after being asked about Microsoft, that's as polite "fuck off" ever gets.

 

[Badlucktroll]

capcom be like

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

Maybe it's just me hoping against hope. But I'd really like this shit to stop now. It isn't funny or exciting anymore. Buying the industry to monopolise it is text book Microsoft but the fact that there using such bullshit excuses to do it like "We lost the console war" - "We can't compete without this going through" etc. It's ridiculous. It's their own fault that they haven't been making good games, that the Xbox one was a disaster at launch and they couldn't use their many billions to tie up their own exclusivity deals.

 

[mejin]

Path is clear, Jimbo.

 

[Negotiator101]

You don't get it.

There is no asking price.

Calm down dear.

So it seems like only EA and Take2 is left on the table from major publishers. Both would be a bit of a hassle to get because both own huge money making IPs like GTA and FC so I believe Microsoft would be forced to do a 10 year deals again for those, but once they do I don't think regulators could stop them.

EA I say is possible but no chance with T2 as the GTA IP is the biggest in gaming by a large amount.

 

[Erebus]

What about Sony though?

 

[Blood Borne]

They're not for sale. I think most Japanese companies, big ones, don't release all their stocks to the market. Something like 40% max that's why their overall value by stock isn't high due to being impossible to make a hostile acquisition. MS and Phil are extremely dumb and don't know that when talking about Nintendo.

Thanks for the insight.
Out of curiosity, has any Japanese gaming company ever been bought?

 

[Poltz]

What about Sony though?

Would get the same answer.

 

[MonkD]

I know MS really wants their big japanese games, but why is that?

All of Sony's sales are still coming from the US studios. Have they given up on that or is Activision Blizzard supposed to cover that part of the market?

Going after Nintendo and Capcom seems like asinine based on their size and portfolio. Platinum would be probably a more realistic size. Sega or Square if they are looking for something larger, but even they may be a stretch.

But I guess they are looking for companies with large backlogs in order to increase the value of gamepass. Not to make new games. Which might be a reasonable strategy.

 

[Gojiira]

I agree, but I don't think Microsoft will stop with Activision acquisition. Their strategy is simply acquire, acquire, acquire, chock Playstation and Nintendo in the process and hope for "the best".

Yep, but going after Japanese publishers will be a hurdle even for MS.
Japan has several protected companies, protected because of cultural relevance. Nintendo and Sega are on the list, Sony, no doubt Capcom is to.
They wont allow Xbox to just acquire them no matter how much money is thrown around. Sony and Nintendo will have a easier time due to be Japanese themselves.
Time will tell of course, but MS is now the largest publisher in the world and cant use the ‘Waaaa Waaa we cantz cumpete! Sony too big!’ Type arguments again when regulators investigate again.

 

[Hudo]

Capcom NEEDS to remain 3rd party, for every platform.

According to their numbers, they are also the most profitable when they are on every platform.

 

[Arsic]

Capcom sells gangbusters on all platforms so there’s likely a loss in the long term to ditch switch and ps5 for them.

 

[SHA]

All SEGA does is lose money. Money talks. MS should buy everyone it can, for their own interest.

To keep them in the museum.

 

[kevm3]

I prefer Capcom and Square to stay independent. Not every company needs to be under the Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo umbrella. As a fanboy it'd be 'fun to see', but I'd prefer an industry where 3 companies don't own everything.

 

[Celcius]

Glad to hear it. Capcom absolutely needs to stay independent.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

You don't get it.

There is no asking price.

According to Phil’s logic they probably just don’t know they want to be purchased yet, same as Nintendo.

 

[Del_X]

Capcom's growth has been immense the past few years. It wouldn't make sense to make an offer until that growth stagnates.

 

[Woopah]

Thanks for the insight.
Out of curiosity, has any Japanese gaming company ever been bought?

In terms of Western one, Zenimax bought Tango Gameworks.

There's plenty of examples of acquisitions/mergers between Japanese gaming companies. Pretty sure that thing about companies not having the majority of their shares being listed isn't that common. Most major Japanese publishers have the majority of their shares listed.

Edit: It is true to say that they have bigger individual/family holdings than Western publishers.

 

[magikarp7]

Hands off my Capcom, Sega, Square

 

[Schmendrick]

A company posting record profits not looking to be bought?
I'm shocked, shocked I say... Well,not that shocked actually....

 

[yurinka]

Even If Microsoft offered double their asking price? I doubt it

Japanese work culture is very different from American, so I honestly wouldn't be surprised if any possible asking price would lead to the same outcome. Same thing with Nintendo

MS can't double their asking price when there isn't a asking price.

They don't want to sell because it's a family business and they are getting now record performance, 10 years in a row beating their own records. No need to be Japanese for that.

And well, if they would want to sell they'd sell to anyone else before selling to MS. Sony, Nintendo or even Tencent would be better options than MS.

Capcom USA (Redmond Branch).

Capcom USA has been a cancer for Capcom since forever, it would be a good idea to sell it to MS and open instead another subsidiary that properly address their western community.

Nah you don't get how publicly traded companies work. The shareholders decide, if a company pays enough than the CEO cannot say no unless he owns the majority of the shares.

The CEO, his family (that he controls), Capcom (that he controls), Crossroad (that he controls) have around 40% of the shares.

Add there a few major investors who support the CEO, like Japanese banks or public investment funds or long term partners and friends, who after checking out a few numbers they see record numbers under current Capcom's management and MS gaming division being a financial suicide joke, and that's the majority of the shares under Capcom's CEO control.

 

[DavJay]

Microsoft: Ah… I’ll buy it at high price.

Capcom: *takes out a fully upgraded Red 9*

 

[EverydayBeast]

Resident evil would be the biggest exclusive EVER.

 

[clintar]

Some of you here can learn from this.

 

[Rival]

Sounds like a ploy to get a bigger offer. Everybody has a price. The million dollar man taught us all that.

 

[Matsuchezz]

Just for reference:

Hostile Takeover Bid: What It Is, Tactics, Comeback

A hostile takeover bid is an attempt to buy a controlling stake in a publicly-traded company without the consent of its management.

www.investopedia.com

If Microsoft was determined to takeover Capcom (barring some sort of Japanese government intervention) it could do it. The best Capcom's board and the Tsujimoto family could do is "recommend" shareholders not to accept Microsoft's offer. The top shareholders only control about 37% so Microsoft (directly or through a proxy) could absolutely buy up a large chunk.

That's especially true since Capcom discontinued its takeover defense measures back in 2017.

Discontinuance (Abolishment) of Countermeasures (Takeover Defense)in response to a Large-Scale Purchase of Shares, etc. of the Company | Press Release | CAPCOM

当社は、本日の取締役会において、平成29年6月9日開催予定の第38期定時株主総会（以下「本定時株主総会」といいます。）終結の時を有効期限とする「当社株式等の大規模買付行為に関する対応策（買収防衛策）」を継続せずに廃止することを決議いたしましたので、下記のとおりお知らせいたします。

www.capcom.co.jp

Obviously the question would be what happens if Microsoft buys Capcom and then there's an exodus and all its talent goes elsewhere.

Bethesda would be in charge of all the tech for all the games from that day forward. And 343 will be the creative mind behind all Capcom IPs.

 

[mckmas8808]

Nah you don't get how publicly traded companies work. The shareholders decide, if a company pays enough than the CEO cannot say no unless he owns the majority of the shares.

Is this an American company or a Japanese company?

 

[FoxMcChief]

Sounds like they need Big Daddy Phil, since they’re so worried about games being too cheap.

 

[solidus12]

Holy shit the evangelizers are at it again

 

[mansoor1980]

no one needs to be rescued

 

[drganon]

Holy shit the evangelizers are at it again

Colt should "rescue" humanity by jumping into a bottomless well.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sounds like they need Big Daddy Phil, since they’re so worried about games being too cheap.

Found Colt's account on Gaf.

Holy shit the evangelizers are at it again

 

[FoxMcChief]

Found Colt's account on Gaf.

 

[IAmRei]

Uugh, no..

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

wrong thread

 

[damiank]

Microsoft: Ah… I’ll buy it at high price.

Capcom: *takes out a fully upgraded Red 9*

Infinite rocket launcher