Dubai fund engulfs Sony

In September, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced it had received $500 million in funding from a venture-capital firm based in the Persian Gulf sheikdom of Abu Dhabi. TimeWarner's nascent game division quickly turned around and used the funds to acquire Lego Star Wars developer Traveller's Tales for a reported £100 million ($206.8 million).

Now, another Gulf-based company has announced it, too, is spending major petrodollars for a stake in a game company. This morning, NewDawn GSE Asset Management Limited announced it has "acquire[d] a substantial stake" in Sony Corp. by making "a substantial investment" in the PlayStation 3 maker. NewDawn GSE Asset Management is a subsidiary of Dubai International Capital LLC (DIC), the international investment arm of Dubai Holdings, an investment firm almost entirely owned by Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

How substantial is "substantial"? Unfortunately, the investment announcement had no financial details whatsoever and, as of press time, Sony had not commented on the deal's monetary minutiae. However, a Bloomberg news service report said DIC disclosed last week that it planned to invest $500 million in a Japanese company. Such investment would only yield DIC a 1 percent stake in Sony, which analysts expect to report net income of ¥327.6 billion ($3.03 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008.

But while DIC's announcement was Herve Villechaize-short on details, it was Wilt Chamberlain-long on enthusiasm for the investment. "Sony provides GSEF with a compelling investment case, consistent with our mandate of supporting premier global companies," DIC CEO Sameer Al Ansari said in a statement. "The combination of Sony's truly global brand, its leadership in product design and its global footprint will spur the business' medium term growth as it capitalizes on positive underlying trends and emerging technologies."

The Sony deal marks the third major investment by DIC in recent months, which saw it scoop up stakes in financial firm HSBC Holdings and the arms-aerospace conglomerate European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS).