Koei and Tecmo share further details on merger plans

Following today's announcement of the finalization of merger plans between Koei and Tecmo, the two firms held a press conference in Tokyo to detail the plans.

As revealed earlier today, Koei and Tecmo have reached an agreement to merge operations under a holding company. The new company, Koei Tecmo Holdings, will open up on April 1, 2009, pending expected shareholder approval in late January.

New details, including a corporate structure for the new firm were revealed at the press conference which was headed up by Koei CEO Kenji Matsuhara and Tecmo CEO and chairman Yasuharu Kakihara.

Koei Tecmo Holdings will have 150,000 million yen in capital and will be based in Yokohama. The address given out for the new firm is actually the address of Koei's current main office.

As previously announced, the companies expect sales of over 700,000 million yen and operating income of over 160,000 million yen for the new firm by fiscal 2011. Matsuhara explained that the "over" is included in these estimates due to possibilities for synergy, although he did not get into specifics.

The board of the new firm will have a mix of Tecmo and Koei suits. Kakihara will be chairman with Matsuhara as CEO. Other board members include Koei founders Yoichi Erikawa and Keiko Erikawa.

One of the main points of the press conference was the focus on global markets. Matsuhara pointed out that the greatest area of growth for the gaming market is not domestic, but overseas. Koei Tecmo will aim to create worldwide brands, he said.

Perhaps the most interesting comment, though came during a Q&A following the press conference. Asked if there was the possibility of Tomonobu Itagaki, former head of Tecmo studio Team Ninja, having a part in Koei Tecmo Holdings, Matsuhara issued a clear no.