Konami Voluntarily Delists Itself from New York Stock Exchange

[UPDATE] More details about Konami's decision to delist itself from the New York Stock Exchange are available below by way of government filings. Konami provided the following explanation for the move:

"The Company listed its ADSs on the NYSE in September 2002 mainly to diversify its opportunities for fund-raising and to raise the visibility of the KONAMI brand. Since then, the Company has made efforts to enhance disclosures for shareholders and investors with the goal of deepening their understanding of the Company, in addition to complying with the disclosure requirements of U.S. securities laws and regulations, providing consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ('U.S. GAAP'), and establishing internal controls in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Meanwhile, the external environment has significantly changed as indicated by the increases in trading volume of Japanese stocks through stock exchanges in Japan by overseas investors due to the internationalization of the Japanese financial and capital markets, as well as the narrowing of the gap between U.S. and Japanese disclosure standards with respect to financial reporting due to a series of amendments to Japanese laws and regulations and accounting standards.

While the Company believes the initial objectives of the U.S. ADS listing were mainly achieved, it has judged that the continued listing on the NYSE is not economically justified, taking into account the market changes as stated above and the fact that the trading volume of its ADSs on the NYSE accounts for only a small fraction of the total trading volume of its shares. Therefore, the Company has decided to apply for voluntary delisting of its ADSs from the NYSE and for termination of registration of its ADSs with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') under the Exchange Act."

The original story is below.

On the same day that Konami officially confirmed that Silent Hills is no longer in development, the company has announced [PDF link] that it's voluntarily delisted itself from the New York Stock Exchange. The company's American Depositary Shares are no longer listed as of April 24.

Konami has also announced that it's filed a Form 15F with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to terminate its obligation to report quarterly financial earnings in English. However, the company said it will continue to do so in an effort to "ensure that [Konami's] overseas shareholders and investors will continue to have appropriate information."

Konami's deregistration with the SEC will become effective July 12, while reporting obligations will come to an end on July 23 (though as mentioned above, Konami will continue to make this information available in English).

As for why Konami is doing this, the publisher said in its Form 15F that, over the past year, 99.71 percent of the company's common stock was traded in Japan and the United Kingdom. By region, Japan accounted for 97.48 percent, while the UK made up 2.23 percent, leaving just .29 percent for the US.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told GameSpot today that Konami's decision to delist itself from the NYSE is a "cost-saving move." He estimated that taking this action will save the company about $5-$10 million per year. "The stock doesn't trade much [in the US], so it probably occurred to them that it wasn't worth being listed [in the US]," Pachter explained.

Konami will report earnings for its latest final period next week on May 8. It's possible that the publisher will shed more light on why it's decided to delist shares from the NYSE during this event.

In other recent Konami news, the publisher is reportedly in the midst of a power struggle with veteran developer Hideo Kojima. He's expected to leave Konami after Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ships in September.