Banking & Finance Saudi PIF raises stake in Japanese film company Toei to 6% By Pramod Kumar March 3, 2023, 5:45 AM Toei Company Toei Company was founded in 1951 and produces movies, TV shows, animation, etc., according to the company website Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has increased its stake in Toei Company Limited to six percent, a filing showed on Friday, reflecting the sovereign wealth fund’s growing exposure to the Japanese media industry. PIF’s stake in the Tokyo-based film and animation firm has risen from five percent to 6.03 percent, Reuters reported, citing the ownership report filed with Japanese regulators. PIF also increased its stake in the e-sports giant Nintendo to 8.26 percent. In September last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman laid out a SAR142 billion ($37.8 billion) strategy for Savvy Games Group to make the kingdom “the ultimate global hub for the games and esports sector by 2030”. The company plans to invest in four programmes that aim to make the kingdom a global hub for gaming by 2030. The Saudi sovereign fund has also invested in Japanese gaming companies Nexon, Capcom and Koei Tecmo. PIF’s US stock holding was valued at $30.9 billion at the end of 2022, down from $36.8 billion at the end of September 2022. The fall was attributed to a $6.8 billion decrease in the value of electric carmaker Lucid.