Exclusive Details: Assimilation of Sega Begins. Sammy Executives Already Poised for Top Jobs
Shareholder meeting next week to see pachinko bigwigs take the reins.
It is looking as though Sammy is wasting no time in the infiltration of Sega at the highest levels, with the news today that several Sammy executives will soon be in key roles at the very heart of Sega.
Those following the news of late will have seen the shock news emerge on Monday of this week wherein Sammy became the single largest shareholder in Sega, following the breakdown of merger talks between the two giants earlier this year.
Sega has today scheduled a shareholder meeting for February 17th of next year (not next week as reported elsewhere), to take place at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo, whereby Sammy president Hajime Satomi will be appointed to the board of directors at Sega in a ‘special advisory’ role. It is worth pointing out that Satomi is personally the biggest single shareholder in Sammy, owning over 50% of the coin-op monster.
This move makes Satomi the single biggest personal shareholder in Sega, as of last Monday. The Sammy president is also the man behind the defunct merger, believed to have close ties with CSK, Sega’s long-time reluctant parent company. Satomi spearheaded the acquisition of the Sega stock, completing the move within 90 days of his first contact with CSK, an impressively short time period to say the least…
News that will surely come accompanied by alarm bells to the ears of the Sega faithful, sees talk of a considerable shake-up at the highest level with Sega’s strategy and business departments. It is believed that Sammy, whose own literature describes its core business as “Development, manufacturing and sales of Pachinko machines, Pachislot machines, Arrange ball machines, Jankyu machines and other related machines,” will appoint two of its executives to Sega’s board.
We believe that one will head up Sega’s arcade business, including the overseeing of all development and strategies as far reaching as retail level, with the other - unnamed at this point - taking over at the head of Sega’s home entertainment activities.
Yoshiharu Suzuki, currently Sammy’s managing director, will take one of the roles, we can exclusively reveal today.
Talking to Reuters, Satomi bullishly stated, “CSK wanted to do whatever possible to get the highest price for Sega, so it really didn't work out then. But I told CSK to come to me first when it really wanted to unload Sega.”
More alarming to Sega fans, and no doubt employees, came in his answer to a question on compatibility. Can Sega and Sammy actually get along in business? “I can't imagine [us not being able to work together] happening, but if our vision does not agree with that of Sega then we might have to consider taking more shares.”
Reading between the lines, this statement of intent is a glaring admission of Sammy’s plans. We now own Sega as much as we need to. If we get any trouble, we’ll buy up open-market stock and run Sega unopposed.
Sammy has stated on several occasions this week that it has not launched a hostile takeover bid and that Sega is fully compliant. However, there’s nothing that Sega could really do about things either way. Sammy bought CSK’s holding, end of story.
Exactly why Sammy, and more specifically Sammy’s president are so keen on Sega is clear. Again, Sammy’s own investor relations literature states its core businesses are “Development, manufacturing and sales of Pachinko machines, Pachislot machines, Arrange ball machines, Jankyu machines and other related machines.” It’s fair to assume that videogame machines come under the banner of ‘related machines’, at the end of Sammy’s priority list.
You may also notice that Sammy says nothing about the home entertainment industry.
Sammy and Satomi’s interest in Sega lies within its massive floor space across the arcade scene all around the world. Over the past two decades Sega has become a dominant force in the coin-op industry, with investment in key arcade retail space seeing a glut of its machines in the very best locations, especially in Japan.
This is what Sammy wants from Sega. Fans will no doubt be hoping that Sammy realizes Sega also makes brilliant and much-loved videogames.
Those following the news of late will have seen the shock news emerge on Monday of this week wherein Sammy became the single largest shareholder in Sega, following the breakdown of merger talks between the two giants earlier this year.
Sega has today scheduled a shareholder meeting for February 17th of next year (not next week as reported elsewhere), to take place at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo, whereby Sammy president Hajime Satomi will be appointed to the board of directors at Sega in a ‘special advisory’ role. It is worth pointing out that Satomi is personally the biggest single shareholder in Sammy, owning over 50% of the coin-op monster.
This move makes Satomi the single biggest personal shareholder in Sega, as of last Monday. The Sammy president is also the man behind the defunct merger, believed to have close ties with CSK, Sega’s long-time reluctant parent company. Satomi spearheaded the acquisition of the Sega stock, completing the move within 90 days of his first contact with CSK, an impressively short time period to say the least…
News that will surely come accompanied by alarm bells to the ears of the Sega faithful, sees talk of a considerable shake-up at the highest level with Sega’s strategy and business departments. It is believed that Sammy, whose own literature describes its core business as “Development, manufacturing and sales of Pachinko machines, Pachislot machines, Arrange ball machines, Jankyu machines and other related machines,” will appoint two of its executives to Sega’s board.
We believe that one will head up Sega’s arcade business, including the overseeing of all development and strategies as far reaching as retail level, with the other - unnamed at this point - taking over at the head of Sega’s home entertainment activities.
Yoshiharu Suzuki, currently Sammy’s managing director, will take one of the roles, we can exclusively reveal today.
Talking to Reuters, Satomi bullishly stated, “CSK wanted to do whatever possible to get the highest price for Sega, so it really didn't work out then. But I told CSK to come to me first when it really wanted to unload Sega.”
More alarming to Sega fans, and no doubt employees, came in his answer to a question on compatibility. Can Sega and Sammy actually get along in business? “I can't imagine [us not being able to work together] happening, but if our vision does not agree with that of Sega then we might have to consider taking more shares.”
Reading between the lines, this statement of intent is a glaring admission of Sammy’s plans. We now own Sega as much as we need to. If we get any trouble, we’ll buy up open-market stock and run Sega unopposed.
Sammy has stated on several occasions this week that it has not launched a hostile takeover bid and that Sega is fully compliant. However, there’s nothing that Sega could really do about things either way. Sammy bought CSK’s holding, end of story.
Exactly why Sammy, and more specifically Sammy’s president are so keen on Sega is clear. Again, Sammy’s own investor relations literature states its core businesses are “Development, manufacturing and sales of Pachinko machines, Pachislot machines, Arrange ball machines, Jankyu machines and other related machines.” It’s fair to assume that videogame machines come under the banner of ‘related machines’, at the end of Sammy’s priority list.
You may also notice that Sammy says nothing about the home entertainment industry.
Sammy and Satomi’s interest in Sega lies within its massive floor space across the arcade scene all around the world. Over the past two decades Sega has become a dominant force in the coin-op industry, with investment in key arcade retail space seeing a glut of its machines in the very best locations, especially in Japan.
This is what Sammy wants from Sega. Fans will no doubt be hoping that Sammy realizes Sega also makes brilliant and much-loved videogames.
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