Koei Tecmo

Koei Tecmo Holdings Co., Ltd. (株式会社コーエーテクモホールディングス) is a Japanese video game holding company, founded in 2009 as Tecmo Koei Holdings by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, including its flagship game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo Games, and Team Ninja. The company was renamed Koei Tecmo on July 1, 2014.

Tecmo oversaw the development of Metroid: Other M by Team Ninja, one of its subsidiaries, in partnership with Project M. Team Ninja, Tecmo and Nintendo kept the fact that they were developing Other M a closely guarded secret, to the point that Koei was unaware of its existence. Even after the merger, Koei was not informed of the game's existence before its public announcement, per Nintendo's arrangement with Tecmo.

History
Tecmo, Inc. (テクモ), formerly known as Tehkan Ltd. (テーカン) was founded by Yoshihito Kakihara on July 31, 1967, as a supplier of cleaning equipment, but switched gears to sell amusement equipment two years later. At the time, it was headquartered in Kudankita, Chiyoda, Tokyo. , with an American office located in Torrance, California.

In April 1981, Tehkan released its first arcade video game, Pleiads in Japan. They later released Bomb Jack and Tehkan World Cup as well. Tehkan officially changed its name to Tecmo on January 8, 1986.

Kakihara died of interstitial pneumonia in 2006.

Koei
Koei Co., Ltd. (株式会社コーエー Kabushiki gaisha Kōē, formerly 光栄 (Kōei)) was founded in July 1978 by Yōichi and Keiko Erikawa. At the time, Yōichi Erikawa was a student of Keio University, who pursued programming after his family business failed. The company is located in the Hiyoshi area of Yokohama, Japan, to this day, nearby Erikawa's alma mater. Koei, the company's name, was a spoonerism of the school's.

Initially upon founding, Koei focused on personal computer sales and made-to-order business software. It released games set against the backdrop of world and Japanese history, including Nobunaga's Ambition, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Uncharted Waters. It established a subsidiary in California, Koei Corporation, in 1988, to localize Koei games for sale outside Japan. After designer Stieg Hedlund's departure from Koei Corporation, the subsidiary ceased to develop its own games and transitioned to supporting the sales and marketing of Koei Japan's games. Subsidiaries in Canada, Europe and Lithuania were later formed.

Merger and reorganization
On August 20, 2008, Tecmo announced the resignation of president Yoshimi Yasuda, to be replaced by current Chairman of the Board Yasuharu Kakihara as of September 1. Eight days later, Square Enix announced plans for a friendly takeover of Tecmo by purchasing shares at a 30% premium with a total bid of 22.3 billion yen, and gave Tecmo until September 4 that year to either accept or reject the proposal. On August 31, Koei president and COO Kenji Matsubara called a company board meeting for the next day, September 1. The board discussed the possibility of merging with Tecmo, given that the founding families of Koei and Tecmo had had a good relationship for many years, and then discussed the potential merger with Tecmo, who agreed to the policy. On September 4, 2008 Tecmo officially declined Square Enix's proposal, and announced its intention to merge with Koei.

The companies revealed their plan to merge by April 1, 2009, forming Tecmo Koei Holdings. Tecmo's second largest shareholder at 17.6%, Effissimo Capital Management Pte, openly opposed the merger, dissenting at a meeting on January 26, 2009. Effisimo implied that they would sell their shares if the merger went ahead. Despite this opposition, the holding company now known as Koei Tecmo was formed on April 1, 2009 as planned. The development divisions of both companies were split into separate subsidiaries, created specifically to plan and development software while operating directly under the holding company. Kenji Matsubara became CEO of Tecmo Koei Holdings, and former Tecmo CEO Yasuharu Kakihara became board chairman.