Frank-ProvoSony Corporation, the parent company of Sony Computer Entertainment, took out an 80-billion-yen syndicated bank loan last week. That comes to roughly $690 million in US Dollars. According to company spokesman Koji Kurati, the loan, which represents the company's first bank borrowing in more than 10 years, will be used "for general purposes."
While 80-billion-yen may seem lofty, it's merely a drop in the bucket when compared to the amounts that the company has already earmarked for component manufacturing for the forthcoming year. They've pledged a grand total of 460-billion-yen, which included 176-billion for semiconductor production and 100-billion for a joint LCD production facility with Samsung.
Japanese lenders also gave Sony a sweet deal on the loan. The company will pay out approximately .48 percent in interest every six months, which, according to analysts, is about .06 percentage points below the going rate.