Ubisoft Escapes Vivendi Takeover
After more than a year of looming threat, Vivendi has sold its entire stake in Ubisoft, marking [...]
After more than a year of looming threat, Vivendi has sold its entire stake in Ubisoft, marking the end of what was believed to be an attempt at a hostile takeover by the multinational mass media conglomerate.
Before today, Vivendi's stake represented a considerable 27.3 percent of Ubisoft's capital, aka 30.5 million shares in the company. Buying this stock back was chiefly Guillemot Brothers SE, the original founders of the company. However, 8 percent was acquired by two new investors: the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, who bought 3.4 percent of the company, and Tencent, who acquired 5 percent.
As a result of the deal, Vivendi has agreed to not buy any shares in Ubisoft for five years. However, after those five years are up it could come sniffing back if it wanted to.
For those that don't know the history of this ordeal, it began when Vivendi, who has a history of hostile takeovers, slowly but surely began accumulating stock in the French publisher/developer. Throughout this process, Vivendi expressed it wasn't planning a takeover, but Ubisoft and CEO Yves Guillemot said otherwise. Further, the company and its CEO actively expressed it was very much against Vivendi and the idea of losing its independence. Basically, despite Ubisoft not wanting Vivendi anywhere near it, the company kept on acquiring stock. And thus the future of Ubisoft has been shrouded in uncertainty for awhile.
But now it's over.
"The evolution in our shareholding is great news for Ubisoft," said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot in a statement. "It was made possible thanks to the outstanding execution of our strategy and the decisive support of Ubisoft talents, players and shareholders. I would like to warmly thank them all."
"The investment from new long-term shareholders in Ubisoft demonstrates their trust in our future value creation potential, and Ubisoft`s share buy-back will be accredited to all shareholders. Finally, the new strategic partnership agreement we signed will enable Ubisoft to accelerate its development in China in the coming years and fully leverage a market with great potential."
Interestingly, but unsurprisingly, Tencent is now involved. The massive Chinese company whose footprint can be found throughout the industry, will certainly help Ubisoft expand in the booming market of China, however, shaking off one colossal company to invite another one on-board, seems, at least, a tad bit risky.
What the future has in store for Ubisoft remains to be seen, but maintaining its independence after it seemed certain to lose it, is a massive win for the French company.
