Ubisoft's founder - the Guillemot family - is reportedly looking into partnering with a private equity firm with a view to acquire the games publisher. In light of the reports, company shares have jumped 10% over the course of the last day or so.
As reported by equities news and data service Dealreporter (many thanks, VGC!), the Guillemot family is allegedly looking to retain operational control of the company and sees a potential partnership as a way to oppose any possible takeover bids from strategic buyers.
The Guillemot family currently holds 15.9% of Ubisoft's shares and 22.3% of the net voting shares, however it has come under fire over the past couple of years in the wake of reports of misconduct within the company. Yves Guillemot has previously publicly apologised as a result, stating that "we are at the start of a long journey".
News of a potential acquisition from the Guillemot family comes after Microsoft's colossal bid to acquire Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 billion and the more recent news that Square-Enix's western studios had been acquired by The Embracer Group for a comparatively measly $300 million.
Feels like just another day in acquisition-gate, right? What do you make of this latest news regarding Ubisoft? Let us know with a comment below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 22
got excited seeing the thumbnail. only to read its industry news i dont care about
@SoManyHaveDied Such is life.
All their biggest failures in recent years have been live service games. Yes they did succeed with Rainbow Six Siege, but their biggest mistake is trying to replicate that success year after year, despite obvious signs that it wasn't working out. If they just put as much focus on their single player franchises that aren't Assassin's Creed they might be able to do better in sales, while also recapturing the attention of the gaming audiences they long left behind.
@SoManyHaveDied You didn't read the headline? Or did just you just click anyway? Genuinely curious!
@SoManyHaveDied That's funny, I'm not interested in the Mario Rabbids games but I find the acquisition and industry talk really fascinating.
So basically they want to protect themselves from Microsoft
@UltimateOtaku91
Ubisoft should remain independent because I don’t want Microsoft or Sony to buy them. They want to protect themself from Sony as well
Sad that shares go up because of takeover reports.
Everyone wants in on a deal, I guess.
@UltimateOtaku91
Perhaps.
Historically it was Vivendi (which later became part of ActivisionBlizzard 2008) that threatenend multiple times to take over Ubisoft. They held about 5% of the total company, and were eager to buy from other stock holders.
However, these 5% were sold off to Tencent back in 2018, before there was talk of harrassment issues, and long before Microsoft decided to buy all of ActiBlizz.
@Pod shares went up because takeover is being blocked. It's the opposite to what you think.
@Gamer_Zeus
Well that's a relief. A bit of faith in humanity restored.
Even if I don’t like Ubisoft, I don’t see Microsoft eating them up as a good thing. I hope the block works
@CactusMan It more has to do with the IPs attached to them. No one in their right mind would buy just Lucasfilm for $4 billion, but someone would buy Lucasfilm for that much since they get the IPs for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Willow and ILM.
For Ubisoft it might be less the publishing house itself, but rather access to Prince of Persia, Rayman, Assassin's Creed, Beyond Good and Evil, Tom Clancy (and all it's sub franchises), Just Dance, Far Cry, Watch Dogs and Red Steel. With the proper attention those series can make serious BANK! Owning those franchises would be the main goal of a potential buyer, plus any development houses they have.
On a side note, I'm surprised how little Ubisoft has done with Red Steel and Prince of Persia. A rerelease of Red Steel 2 or the Sands of Time trilogy on the eShop or PSN would be quite popular.
@Wexter The Sands of Time has that remake coming out at some point. If ever.
I can remember a time when that family thought that EA wanted to “hostile take over” them.
all that care about Ubisoft is a 2D/3D Rayman game and Mario+ Rabbids Sparks of Hope, the rest can burn.
Asif they wouldn't love to be bought for the the same price Microsoft paid for Activision 😂
@nessisonett at this point with the remake I'll believe it when I see it... Ubisoft has not been kind to the Prince so I'm doubtful it will ever come out. At this point, I'll just be happy with the Gamecube games on the eShop... : [
@CactusMan No problem! Sometimes this business makes no sense when dealing with takeovers and why. So glad I could help clear-up the reason!
They definitely don't want someone taking over because new leadership might not want to cover up all the serious serious serious issues Ubisoft continues to not take any real action on.
One less developer being swallowed up can only be a good thing in the long run.
The life-long question: Will there be Rayman 4 in this article?
Jokes aside, this is definitely interesting.
Hope they fail the block. Management for that company and its studio runners need to be terminated. I don't even care who buys them, just need to fix Ubisoft. If it isn't some deplorable behavior across the board, its their insistence to take the company and its IPs in a direction no one wants to go.
I like how he's saying that they have a long road ahead and that they will work kn getting better, but refuse to do anything serious or take real actions.
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