Ubisoft Fights Off Hostile Vivendi Takeover

The attempted takeover over Ubisoft has been years in the making but it seems that Ubisoft has finally come out the victor. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Vivendi SA has officially announced that they are selling off its Ubisoft stock by early next year, forgoing its 26% holdings over the company.

At this current time, Vivendi holds approximately 6.7% of the share capital between two "financial institutions," which will be sold off on March 5, 2018. This decision is a complete change in direction since they have been gunning for Ubisoft in a very hostile takeover attempt. Many were worried about what this would mean for Ubisoft, especially seeing the success they had when they took control of Gameloft.

According to a recent press statement regarding the shares:

"This 6.7% interest will be sold by Vivendi to two financial institutions as follows: approximately 0.91% on October 1, 2018 as planned, and 5.74% deferred to March 5, 2019. Vivendi has given an undertaking to Ubisoft to sell all the shares it owns by March 7, 2019 (settlement date)."

Luckily, Ubisoft's shares have been making steady progress upwards which weakened Vivendi's likelihood of a successful takeover. It's because of this, reportedly, that the mega company has backed off on their initial plans, essentially making a complete 180 regarding the acquisition.

For those that have been rooting against Vivendi, there's even more good news. Once they have completely relinquished their Ubisoft stock, they will not be allowed to purchase any more over the next five years. This gives a lot of time to Ubisoft to put safeguards in place and continue to protect themselves from a total takeover situation.

It's been a long journey through the years. What do you think about how Vivendi went about taking over Ubisoft and are you glad to see them fail? Join in on the conversation in the comment section below and tell us what you think about Ubisoft's successful attempt to thwart a hostile takeover by the company in the comment section below!

You can also read more about the more technical side of stocks and how the company is doing over at The Motley Fool that breaks down the monthly stock incline and how that influenced Vivendi's decision and Ubisoft's protective maneuvers.

Thanks for the hot tip, Tech Spot!

You can also contact the author of this story over on Twitter @DirtyEffinHippy.