December 20^th, 2004 (12:21pm) - Japanese publishing giant Konami is planing to absorb three of its listed development houses and one unlisted house at the start of the company’s next fiscal year, April 1st 2005. This is part of a reorganisation plan the company is planning.

According to the deal, Konami JPN, Konami TYO, Konami Studio and Konami Online will end up under the control of one management structure. This move is designed to "speed up the decision-making process... and help concentrate production know-how and other resources on our online game business, where there is a large growth potential," says Konami.

Konami JPN is the house behind the Metal Gear Solid series, and counts renowned designer Hideo Kojima as one of its executives. TYO develops games like Pro Evolution Soccer, Dancing Stage, Silent Hill and the Suikoden titles as well as others. Konami Studio is making the Gran Turismo-style game Enthusia Professional Racing.

This creates 10.8 million new shares for Konami, and the deal is valued at around £116 million. Of the listed development units, one share in Konami Studio will be swapped for 0.42 shares of Konami, one in JPN for 0.81 in Konami, and one share in TYO for a whole Konami share.

Analyst Takeshi Tajima of BNP Paribas said the move was "positive" for Konami, "though the immediate impact on earnings will be limited," when speaking to Reuters. He also said that "Konami now wants to create a more coherent group structure by reintegrating the companies into the parent at a time when industry competition is heating up."