Square's number 1 stockholder Masashi Miyamoto, who currently holds 39.95% of the company's shares, has decided to sell five million of his 23.68 million shares to overseas investors, in particular from Europe. Nikko Salomon Smith Barney has taken over the stocks and will begin selling them as early as this week. The price for one share has yet to be fixed. While Square's public relations department didn't go into details, the company said the move was aimed to improve the flow of Square stocks.
Even after the sale, Miyamoto holds a 31% stake in Square, compared to Sony Computer Entertainment's 19.4% stake in the company.
After Square's announcement earlier this year to develop games for Nintendo's GameCube and GameBoy Advance, Square shares in Tokyo rose by almost 90% compared to its lows in September and December 2001 by topping the 2900 ($24.16USD) yen mark in early May. Since then, however, the share price has been declining again. Despite today's news, Square stocks fell by 3.90%, closing Monday's trading session at the Tokyo Stock Exchange at 2,095 yen ($17.46USD).
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Updated: 07.08.02 - 5:10 PM |
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| Chris Winkler |