The publisher said "no consideration is currently being given to taking the Company private"
Square Enix has issued a statement denying it is exploring taking the company private after a report in Japanese business magazine Sentaku claimed the publisher had drawn interest from foreign investment funds.
"The September issue of the monthly magazine Sentaku carried a report regarding the possibility of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. (the 'Company') going private," the company wrote in a succinct statement. "However, this information was not announced by the Company.
"No consideration is currently being given within the Company to taking the Company private."
The Sentaku report sent Square Enix's stock surging on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, rising as much as 8.3 percent throughout the day, according to Investing.com (thanks, Eurogamer).
Activist investor 3D Investment Partners, which holds roughly 18.5 percent of Square Enix's shares, allegedly sparked this speculation. It has previously pushed the company's board to reassess its strategy.
Square Enix has spent the past four years restructuring, selling Western studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal to Embracer Group in 2022, then laying off more than 100 staff across the US and UK in 2025 as part of a consolidation of development in Japan.
A take-private deal would require buying back all outstanding shares at a premium. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund took a similar path with its acquisition of Electronic Arts, a deal that left EA in billions of dollars in debt.
Square Enix reported strong first-quarter growth earlier this month, with profit rising 175.5% to ¥13.2 billion ($82.9 million). The company attributed these results to its Digital Entertainment segment, which saw high sales in HD Games, MMO, and Smart Devices/PC Browser sub-segments.
