Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 29, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleSony's spin-off of its financial arm aims to enhance its fundraising capabilities, distributing over 80% of shares to Sony Financial Group.
By Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) -Sony's CEO said on Thursday the spin-off of the group's financial services arm will give that business its own fundraising capabilities.
"It is significant that, through the spin-off, Sony (Financial Group) will secure its own fundraising capabilities while continuing to use the Sony brand and collaborate with Sony Group," Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki said at an investor day.
Sony plans to distribute just over 80% of its shares to Sony Financial Group, which includes banking and insurance, to shareholders through dividends in kind.
It is the first partial spin-off by a company in Japan with a direct listing - the first in Japan in more than two decades - set for September 29.
The business plans to repurchase shares totaling some 100 billion yen through to March 2027.
Its origins date back to the late 1970s, when Sony co-founder Akio Morita moved to set up a life insurance business selling to consumers.
For the financial services business, investment in its IT systems and strategic 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)
The spin-off will provide Sony Financial Group with its own fundraising capabilities while allowing it to continue using the Sony brand and collaborate with Sony Group.
The direct listing is set for September 29, marking the first partial spin-off by a company in Japan in over two decades.
Sony plans to repurchase shares totaling approximately 100 billion yen through to March 2027.
The financial services business originated in the late 1970s when Sony co-founder Akio Morita established a life insurance business aimed at consumers.
More than 60% of Sony's profit came from its entertainment businesses last year.
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