Sony’s CEO s
aid on Thursday the spin-off of the group’s financial services a
rm will give that business its own fundraising capabilities.
“It is significant that, through the spin-off, Sony (Financial Group
) will secure its own fun
draising capabilities while continuing to use the Sony brand and collaborat
e with Sony Group,” Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki said at an investor day.
Sony plans to dis
tribute just over 80% of its shares to Sony Financial Group, which
includes banking and insurance, to shareholders through dividend
s in kind.
It is the first partial spin-off by a company in Japan with a direc
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t listing—the first in Japan in more than two decades—set for September 29.
The business plans t
o repurchase shares totaling some 100 billion yen through to March 2027.
Its origins date b
ack to the late 1970s, when Sony co-founder Akio Morita moved to se
t up a life insurance business selling to consumers.
For the financial services business, investment in its IT systems and st
rategic investments such as M&A will be necessary in the medium-to-long term, Totoki said.
In more recent years Sony sold off struggling hardware operations and focused on entertainment such as the PlayStation games business.
More than 60% of the conglomerate’s profit came from its entertainment businesses last year.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; editing by Shri Navaratnam and Kate Mayberry)