TOKYO: The investment firm managing the wealth of Nintendo Co’s founders purchased a majority stake in Taiyo Pacific Partners, a United States activist fund focused on Japanese equities, according to Nikkei.

       The Yamauchi No. 10 family office acquired the holding from Taiyo Pacific chief executive officer Brian Heywood and other founding members, Nikkei reported Monday, citing executives from both parties involved that it didn’t identify. Hirowaka Murakami, co-chief investment officer of Yamauchi No. 10, will be named co-CEO along with Heywood later this month.

       The family office declined to disclose the size of the deal but said it expects it to help expand its reach to both public and private markets in Japan, a media representative told Bloomberg.

       “We’re very focused on ensuring that the spark of creativity never dies in Japan,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “Taiyo will play an important role in our efforts to fulfill our obligation to use the assets we have inherited to achieve an innovative and enduring society.”Banjo Yamauchi started the family office in 2020 to manage assets previously owned by former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, who died in 2013. It oversees more than 100 billion yen (US$867mil or RM3.63bil), Bloomberg reported in January of 2021.

       Kyoto-based Nintendo, which began in 1889 as a playing-card business, has since turned into a global video-game giant. The maker of the Switch console and creator of franchises including Mario and Pokemon now has a market value of more than US$66bil (RM276bil). — Bloomberg