Japan’s McDonald’s shares soar after company collaborates with Pokemon Go

Shares of the Japanese subsidiary of McDonald’s soared to its highest level today since 2001 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, after the company announced it would collaborate on the successful Pokemon Go game by Nintendo.

One hour and 17 minutes into the early trade session, the shares of Japan’s McDonald’s Holdings Co had jumped 7.4 percent to 3,775 yen ($35.2), its highest in the last 15 years.

The shares of the burger franchise already climbed 5.3 and 9.8 percent on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively after it was leaked that the company will turn no less than 3,000 of its restaurants across Japan into Pokemon ‘Gyms.’

Yesterday, McDonald’s Japan confirmed in a statement that the company “expects to announce a collaborative project with the Pokemon Go app for iOS and Android soon.”

“Once the project is completed, we will inform about the details of this collaboration,” said the Japanese subsidiary of the American fast food company.

The Pokemon Go app was released on July 6 and is now available in 35 countries, but not yet in Japan, its home country. The game allows players to collect Pokemons and is one of the most successful sagas in the history of manufacturer Nintendo.

In just two weeks, the success of the game app, downloaded on their mobile phones by millions of people worldwide, has doubled the value of Nintendo shares, climbing to new record numbers.

The Kyotobased company, meanwhile, today recorded an increase of almost 4 percent during the first session of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.