Canada Pension Plan Cashes in on Pokemon GO, Nintendo Value Jumps $17 Billion

Nintendo is back, baby. The company’s long awaited foray into mobile gaming on smartphones has paid off, as the success of Pokemon GO is beyond hype–it has become a worldwide movement.

The success of Pokemon GO is benefitting Canadians too, despite not having official access to the game, yet. The Canada Pension Plan, according to disclosure documents as of March 31, 2016, revealed they held 318,000 shares of Nintendo, worth $59 million at the time, reports Global News.

Based on today’s Nintendo stock price, those shares are now worth over $108 million Canadian dollars. In just over a week, Nintendo shares have climbed over 86 per cent, adding $17 billion in market value on the Tokyo bourse, hitting a record for trading volume for an individual stock (shares rallied nearly 10% today alone).

Pokemon go canada

However, Nintendo’s success with Pokemon GO may not result in huge profits for the company, noted CLSA analyst Jay Defibaugh:

Nintendo owns the brand rights to the Pokémon franchise, but the game was developed by Niantic Labs, a spinoff of Google, and the Pokémon Company, an equity affiliate in which Nintendo owns 32%. Nintendo receives royalties for Pokémon titles, “but surprisingly little direct profit,” said Defibaugh.

Today, Nintendo announced Pokemon Go had reached new markets in Europe, launching in Spain, Italy and Portugal, alongside existing markets the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand. Canada is still waiting patiently, but a huge release date party is already being planned in Toronto.

Don’t want to wait? Here’s how to download Pokemon GO for iOS in Canada right now.

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