Dubai International Capital, an investment firm owned by Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has taken a “substantial”, though unspecified, stake in Sony. The WSJ notes that the stake is likely less than 5 percent, given that it didn’t trigger a regulatory filing in Japan. The investment is the fund’s first in a Japanese company. Sony (NYSE: SNE) stock is up over 3.5 percent so far on the news.

The announcement comes off as a strong endorsement of management’s strategy of focusing on its core businesses, or at least that’s what Sony says: Sony provides GSEF with a compelling investment case, consistent with our mandate of supporting premier global companies. Whilst the restructuring process at Sony is well advanced, the recent successful listing of Sony Financial Holdings is evidence of management’s ongoing strategy of focusing on capital efficiency and cash generation.

Reuters: Dubai International Capital said in July it might buy stakes of up to $1.5 billion in one or two publicly listed companies in Japan. A $1.5 billion investment would be equivalent of a 3 percent stake in Sony, which has a market value of 5.52 trillion yen ($50.9 billion).

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