Nintendo Announces Share Buyback Plan

According to Japanese reports translated by consumer website GameSpot, game hardware and software giant Nintendo has announced plans to buy back 2.2 million shares of its own stock, around 1.5 percent of the 130 million Nintendo shares currently available. One of the reasons for this buyback is the fear that a rival company could purchase enough Nintendo shares to acquire either a say in the company or, in somewhat more unlikely circumstances, a controlling interest. The plan will cost Nintendo around $233 million dollars if completely successful, since the Kyoto-based company intends to pay 11,650 yen ($106) for each share. A good example of a similar situation in the West in which outstanding shares were purchased en masse is Electronic Arts' controlling interest purchase of Swedish Battlefield 2 developer DICE, which saw EA acquire more than 50% of DICE's shares by bidding for them on the open market, against the wishes of some other major shareholders. Presently, according to reports, Nintendo owns 11.6 million shares (almost 9 percent) of its publically issued stock, meaning that its new share purchases should push it over the 10 percent mark.