Now they're one of the largest shareholders, but don't expect to see a buyout anytime soon.
Update: More information has surfaced about the deal. Apparently, Nintendo had got a pretty sizeable chunk of their newly acquired shares from Mattel, the toy company. Mattel had an agreement with Bandai in 1999, which was to end at the end of this year. As a result of this, Mattel decided to dump some Bandai stock, and Nintendo wound up nabbing it from them.
Mattel still has Bandai stock, and when the agreement between the two toy companies ends, it's being said that Nintendo might be interested in acquiring more Bandai stock from Mattel. Exactly how much stock Mattel has left isn't clear, but it's sure to be a pretty good amount.
Thanks to Video-Fenky for the update.
The all-knowing Japanese game portal Famitsu is reporting that Nintendo had bought up 1.28 million shares of outstanding Bandai stock after their recent 2-for-1 stock split at the end of September. Nintendo now holds a 2.7% stake in Bandai, which would make them one of the top ten largest shareholders in the company.
While no specfic reason was given for the purchase of the stock, Nintendo might be intrested in getting Bandai to release some of their high-profile games exclusively for Nintendo consoles.
Rumors have been swirling about Nintendo buying out Bandai entirely, but both companies deny it.