Nintendo has 3.8 million shares in Bandai Namco worth $186 million

Nintendo's latest 2020 annual report shows a number of substantial investments into partner companies, but it's biggest is Bandai Namco.

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While scouting Nintendo's new annual report, I noticed something interesting: The Japanese games-maker has invested considerably into Bandai Namco, one of its principal game development partners. Nintendo currently owns over 3.8 million shares of Bandai Namco that're worth roughly $186 million. The company says this investment serves the "purpose of maintaining and developing the business relationship."

This makes sense considering Bandai Namco has developed and is developing high-profile games for Nintendo, including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo's second best-selling game on Switch with over 18 million units sold, and the upcoming Metroid Prime 4.

"The Company holds investment shares for the purpose of maintaining and developing business alliances and business relationships if it is deemed to contribute to improving corporate value over the medium- to long-term," Nintendo writes in the report.

Bandai Namco isn't the only developer Nintendo has invested in. The Switch titan has bought shares in other companies like DeNA, who makes the Pokemon GO games. Nintendo has over 15 million shares in DeNA that're worth $165 million.

It's also invested in the Bank of Kyoto, which also owns 4% of Nintendo's total stock, as well as developers like Square Enix (91,252 shares worth $4 million), Konami (63,734 shares worth $1 million), and Koei Tecmo (18,952 shares worth $481,484).

Some of these companies like DeNA have also reciprocally invested in Nintendo.

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