Sega Sammy Holdings Inc’s Chairman, CEO and largest shareholder, Hajime Satomi, has sold off 74% of his stake in the company to an asset management firm controlled by he and his family.
The sale of 23,558,000 shares to HS Company represents 10.12% of Sega Sammy’s issued share capital and has resulted in a change in the major shareholder and largest shareholder.
Satomi’s stake has fallen from 13.69% to 3.31% and sees him become Sega Sammy’s fifth largest shareholder, while HS Company is now the largest shareholder with 15.16%.
In an announcement, Sega Sammy said that, “The aim of the purchase is to allow HS Company, an asset management company, to acquire some of the shares of Sega Sammy Holdings Inc held by Hajime Satomi … and to hold the shares over a long term as a stable shareholder of the company.”
The news comes as the company revealed a 9% decline in revenue for the nine months to 31 December 2017 to ¥260.8 billion (US$2.44 billion) due to a 20% fall in sales in its pachislot and pachinko business to ¥95.4 billion (US$891.4 million) and a 10% fall in the resorts business to ¥7.3 billion (US$68.2 million). Sega Sammy is a joint partner with Korea’s Paradise Group in the country’s first integrated resort, Paradise City, in Incheon, Korea and also operates holiday resorts and theme parks in Japan.
The company said it is on track to open the second phase of Paradise City in 1H18, including a spa, club, retail plaza, boutique hotel and family attractions.