Blackstone Inc. ( BX ) and KKR & Co. Inc. ( KKR )  shares are trading higher on Thursday. 

Sony Music Entertainment is reportedly gearing up to compete with private equity firms  Blackstone and KKR to acquire Infocom Corp., a Japanese e-comics provider, in a deal valued at approximately ¥200 billion ($1.3 billion).

A second round of bidding for Teijin Ltd.'s full stake in Infocom is scheduled for May, Bloomberg reported, citing undisclosed sources familiar with the matter.

Sony Group Corp.’s music division is in talks with Japanese fund Integral Corp. The parties are contemplating a full acquisition of Infocom’s shares to privatize the Mecha Comics manga app operator, the report read.

Industrial textiles maker Teijin holds 55.1% of Infocom, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The e-comics market is booming within the smartphone ecosystem, with digital manga sales surpassing paper sales at ¥483 billion annually. Mecha Comics competes with rivals like Line Corp., Kakao Corp., and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.’s manga apps, the report added.

Sony Music Entertainment, beyond its music operations, owns Aniplex, creator of Demon Slayer. It also holds a stake in anime distributor Crunchyroll, a venture with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Meanwhile, Blackstone backs Candle Media, led by ex-Disney execs, and KKR invests in Skydance Media helmed by David Ellison, Bloomberg added.

Price Action: KKR shares are trading higher by 1.86% to $101.52 at last check Thursday, while BX shares are trading higher by 1.78% to $121.93.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.