Sony Shares Are Surging Premarket: Company Eyes Sony Financial Arm IPO

• Sony Group Corp (NYSE: SONY) is exploring a partial spinoff and separate listing for its financial unit in two to three years.

• Sony looks to retain just under 20% of Sony Financial Group Inc and sell its shares on a Japanese exchange, Bloomberg cites from its strategy briefing.

• The potential spinoff would reverse a $3.7 billion take-private deal concluded in 2020 over FY23.

• Also Read: Sony Discloses ¥200B Share Repurchase Plan

• The spinoff will help the firm to bag more considerable investment for Sony’s image sensor and entertainment businesses, COO Hiroki Totoki said at the briefing.

• Sony set up the Sony Financial unit in 2004, which now operates Sony Bank as one of the few online-only banks in Japan. The financial division was likely to rake in most of the conglomerate’s operating profit, but in recent years the focus has shifted to Sony’s entertainment business.

• The potential spinoff coincides with growing challenges in Sony’s core business groups.

• In April, Sony offered a conservative profit outlook for FY23, warning that it expects to sell fewer games from in-house PlayStation Studios teams and that the slump in global consumer spending would continue.

• The smartphone market is also unlikely to rebound until next year, Totoki said then, though Sony is not considering spinning off its chip division, he added on Thursday.

• Price Action: SONY shares are trading higher by 4.28% at $99.40 premarket on the last check Thursday.

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