On May 1, 2022, entalize co. ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of PTW International Holdings Limited, and PTW Japan Co., Ltd., finalized their merger.
With both firms part of the same corporate group, why merge—and why now? Here, former entalize CEO Hiroshi Takao and PTW Japan CEO Takuto Terao talk about the details of the merger, its goals, and their hopes for the future.
More targeted solutions and services for companies in Japan and abroad
ー First, tell us about what led to the merger.
Takuto Terao (Hereinafter Takuto): Originally, PTW Japan would work in conjunction with our offices overseas, introducing their multilingual localization and customer support services to our client companies in Japan. entalize, on the other hand, dealt with translation, voiceover recording, QA, and other video game localization services—they handle the “boots-on-the-ground” work. We felt that by combining entalize’s practical work in our localization services with PTW Japan’s sales know-how, we’d have a better understanding of the needs of companies both inside Japan and abroad, and thus be able to offer more fine-tuned solutions, further raising the quality of our services. So—we merged. Our parent company is PTW International Holdings Limited, so we at PTW Japan report to them, essentially as the Japanese subsidiary of an international division. Another driving force behind the merger was that we felt that working together with PTW International Holdings Limited and PTW’s other overseas offices as one singular team in Japan would ease collaboration with the other overseas teams. Also, PTW Japan and entalize have always shared some back-office functions and management resources, so with the merger we can streamline our management resources, making them more effective.
ー When was the idea of a merger first brought up?
Hiroshi Takao (Hereinafter Hiroshi): We first started discussing it internally around October or November of 2021. After that, we started making preparations, and we held an IR presentation at the end of March.
ー Hiroshi, has the reaction to the merger been positive?
Hiroshi: Of course, I myself thought the merger was a great idea! As Takuto said, entalize and PTW Japan were already working closer together than the other group companies, so I frankly didn’t think there was any need to divide our teams. We hope to achieve synergies in the localization industry by combining a company specializing in sales with a company that’s closer to the practical operations. Also, our larger group corporation has enacted a policy that calls for the consolidation of the many subsidiaries we’ve gathered over the course of our numerous M&As—for us to mobilize our operations in organizational structures that are as large as is reasonably manageable. Plus: we also decided that a merger just made the most sense.
Uniting under the PTW Japan banner for forward-facing branding
ー Under this merger, entalize is the surviving company, but under the new name of “PTW Japan.” Tell us about this.
Takuto: PTW Japan was originally entalize’s parent firm. Over the course of our group company mergers, we’ve focused on the PTW name as our common branding—for a forward-facing public image. We’re involved in so many services in the gaming industry—localization, yes, but also QA and customer support. The PTW brand is active in a wide range of industries. Not just gaming, but the wider entertainment industry, IT, and more. We made a decision focused on our potential for expansion.
Hiroshi: In 2016, entalize was acquired by Pole to Win, and its share of the market for localizing overseas games for Japan was rather large, even from a global perspective. We were concerned that we’d alienate clients who had come to trust entalize with their projects unless entalize remained extant as a brand, so we maintained a separate “entalize” business unit within the company.
ー What was the reaction to the name change inside and outside your firm?
Hiroshi: From third parties, we’ve frankly gotten reactions like: “entalize is the surviving company, so why change the name?” The offices we’ve contracted as a company are those that entalize contracted, and the company itself has its roots there. entalize was big in terms of corporate scale, too, so I think some felt it a bit strange at first. We had the same reaction from the entalize team members as well. However, we communicated that, essentially, it was business as usual, and though there were questions, the response wasn’t negative.
ー What’s your attitude toward these reactions?
Takuto: We anticipated that there was probably going to be some resistance to the company name change from entalize employees, and we’ve prepared ourselves to an extent for a potential degree of negative feedback from our clients as well. On the other hand, however, we’ve also received some positive words from our clients in Japan who say that consolidating a variety of group companies under one banner makes things simpler and easier to understand—so that’s a relief.
Hiroshi: Officially, we’ve become employees of PTW Japan, but some in my workplace are still calling it “entalize.” Of course, I’ve also heard that there are employees who are still on the fence about the merger, or who are taking it a little hard. As for me, I’m thrilled—it makes me proud and motivated as a member of the firm. It hasn’t been that long since the merger, so I think there are more than a few employees who feel like those I’ve mentioned—but I also feel like our team members will get used to PTW Japan over time.
ー What sort of synergies are you seeing business-wise through the merger?
Takuto: Our back-office functions are centralized at entalize’s management division, and our internal systems have also been consolidated into the systems entalize uses, a decision that has streamlined our processes greatly. Before, our employee benefits were a bit fractured, but with the merger, all our team members now enjoy the same insurance and benefits offered to entalize employees, which I feel is a blessing. From a business perspective, adding PTW Japan to entalize as its business unit has enabled us to conduct sales activities for our Japanese clientele from much closer to the actual on-the-ground operations, enhancing our ability to provide clients with an exceptional quality of service. Two experts from the entalize sales side, with a wealth of knowledge from their professional experience in localization and other fields, have also joined the new team, which I feel creates the potential for new business opportunities for us.
ー What changes have taken place at your firm after the merger?
Hiroshi: I feel that having team members who were divided into separate offices before, now working in one place together, is producing new interactions. For example, after the merger, I’ve seen the team in charge of our overseas teams and our members in sales speaking to each other frequently. Plus, I feel that when team members see these interactions, it reinforces the sense that, “Hey, we’re all members of PTW International Holdings Limited.
Takuto: PTW Japan’s sales team collaborate with our offices abroad and are the team that handles the sales of our services to our Japanese clients. Pre-merger, though, they really couldn’t keep an eye first-hand on certain aspects of our operations from where they were positioned. Before, if something happened, our sales team members would need to get in touch right away via phone or video call, with their contact point on the GLD team—who oversees the coordination of activities with our overseas teams. After the merger, however, I see these discussions being held in the office, with everyone getting together to look over and confirm documents and whatnot. I feel this is a big plus for our sales team.
Our goal: to be the global leader in localization
ー Tell us how you’d like to use the advantages of the PTW Japan merger to expand in the future.
Takuto: The PTW group is an operation on a scale close to 40 billion yen. Our overseas operations account for roughly 11 to 12 billion of that, so it’s our responsibility to expand that end of the business. At PTW Japan, we offer the full range of support services: localization, QA, customer support, game development, entertainment-related support services, and more. Our subsidiary DelfiSound also specializes in recording anime voice acting, so I’d like to expand beyond video game projects into support services for anime and beyond.
ー Has the merger enabled you to take on more projects?
Takuto: Yes. The merger has put systems in place that allow offer a one-stop shop for audio production on a global scale. We use recording studios at our overseas offices to provide localized voice recording for Japanese games, but we haven’t yet had the opportunity to assist with the recording of the original Japanese voice tracks, however. Our company has five recording studios in Japan alone, and our group has several studios overseas. I think that getting involved with a game’s original voice recording would allow us to offer one-stop services for both original and localized voice work. That’s an advantage that only the merger could give us. Nowadays, we’re seeing inflation taking off in the West, and personnel expenses there are increasing dramatically. We’re able to provide our overseas localization services to our Japanese clients but inflation is putting an increasing burden on them. However, with our merger, we’ll be able to offer the services of localization teams right here in Japan, so our clients will be able to enjoy linguistic services without delays from time zone differences.
ー Finally, do you have any parting words, or goals for the future to share with us?
Hiroshi: Our goal is to be the world’s foremost localization vendor. That’s not something a single company can accomplish; it’s my belief that every company in our group needs to work together toward that goal. Splitting this undertaking among separate companies would drag us down. However, I think that streamlining our efforts under the banner of a single organization allows us to work with greater speed and flexibility. In the future, we’re going to keep our eyes fixed upon that goal, and with our drive, I know we’ll reach it. Localization is an industry that extends far beyond video games. We want to be a company our employees are proud to be a part of. We want to offer a degree of service and rock-solid brand strategy that makes everyone in the industry recognize: “They’re the go-to company for localization in the entertainment industry.”
Takuto: I likewise want us to be a company that makes the entertainment industry stand up and take notice: to recognize that “without PTW Japan, we can’t expand globally.” That’s why I want us to be a company that localizes all types of entertainment content—not just games, but anime and more. I think we have to keep expanding our range of services. We also must create an environment that communicates to our employees that they’re able to take on a variety of challenges at our company. I want us to be a company that pursues global expansion with gusto while offering a high level of service that fulfils our clients’ needs.
—— I feel that fusillade of questions and frank talk from management has given us an idea of the reasons behind the merger that created the new PTW Japan—and what the company hopes to achieve in the days to come. I’m looking forward to what’s in store for the future and what new synergies lie ahead.