Sony Plans Investor Meeting To Discuss Entertainment Businesses

The company is telling analysts and investors to hold November 21 for a “Sony Entertainment Investor Day” to be held at the Sony Pictures Entertainment lot in Culver City. No word on why — or who’ll be there. But this appears to be a follow up to a promise that CEO Kazuo Hirai made last month to Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb: After rejecting the hedge fund owner’s proposal to create a new stock for entertainment and sell a minority stake to the public, Hirai said that he would “increase disclosure regarding Sony’s entertainment businesses. We agree this can help market participants analyze their performance and monitor their success.” Loeb stung the company over the summer, charging that Sony “has plenty of reasons to worry about Entertainment”, which he said generated lower profit margins than its competitors. George Clooney came to Sony’s defense in a conversation with my colleague Mike Fleming Jr., calling Loeb a “carpetbagger”. Hirai said that the board “unanimously concluded that continuing to own 100% of our entertainment business is the best path forward and is integral to Sony’s strategy.” Loeb is an investor in Variety with Deadline’s parent company, PMC.

Related: Daniel Loeb In Retreat: Backs Off Sony, Praises Clooney