Times are tough for many Japanese electronic maker who failed to transition from a hardware driven world to a more software focused one. Sony is no stranger to this and has been working hard at shifting its gears by becoming a more lean and competitive company under long time company veteran and new CEO, Kaz Hirai. To help strengthen the companies cloud initiative, Sony bought Gaikai in early July which many believe will help fuel the PlayStation 4. In addition to that, Sony also spend hundred of millions of dollars on rescuing another Japanese company, Olympus.

Now that Sony has finished with its shopping spree and has seen a return to profit in some divisions with only a $198 million net loss, the company needs to pay down its debts and acquisitions. To to this, Sony hired JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs, Nomura Holdings and SMBC Nikko Securities to handle the offering. Under them, Sony will issue the five-year bonds convertible into own shares and raise $1.9 billion (150 billion yen) in the process. One third of this will help pay for the companies investment in Olympus which is geared towards strengthening the companies CMOS image censors while the rest will help pay for Gaikai and other debts.

Discuss:

Will the purchase of Gaikai and investment in Olympus help Sony in the long term?

[Via Reuters]