With the recent passing away of Sega's President Isao Okawa, Sega Corporation (the world's third-largest video-game maker) shares have fallen 5.3 percent.
Okawa was also founder of Sega's largest shareholder, computer-services provider CSK Corp., and four of its affiliate companies -- Ascii Corp., Bellsystem 24 Inc., CSK Electronics Corp. and Nextcom KK.
Investors are worried CSK may sell its shareholdings in money- losing Sega following Okawa's death. Okawa, who graduated from Waseda University in 1948, was at the center of the CSK group of companies. Analysts say ties between the video-game maker, which in January said it was getting out of the hardware business, and CSK are likely to remain strong.
''There's no point in CSK severing ties with Sega,'' said Nobumasa Morimoto, an analyst with Tokyo-Mitsubishi Securities Co. ''Sega's earnings are expected to improve after the company scrapped its Dreamcast video-game console.''
Sega fell 102 yen to 1,839. Some 1.6 million shares traded, surpassing their most recent six-month daily average of 1.4 million shares. CSK shares fell 189 yen, or 9.2 percent, to 1,871 with 1 million shares trading, almost double the daily average the past six months.
Okawa became Sega's chairman in April 1984 and took on the added role of president last June. Analysts expect little impact on Sega's business from the death of Okawa, who had assumed a largely ceremonial role over the last year, assigning three other executives with the task of turning around four years of losses.
''No confusion is expected'' as Sega's business was being run by Vice President Hideki Sato and co-Chief Operating Officer Tetsu Kayama, Morimoto said.
Tokyo-based Sega will probably appoint Kayama as president, the Nihon Keizai and the Yomiuri newspapers reported over the weekend, without citing sources. Sega said it had yet to decide who would succeed Okawa.
SOURCE: Bloomberg News Services.
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