Chinese conglomerate Tencent is reportedly planning to increase its stake in Ubisoft, the French publisher and developer of games such as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and many more titles.
According to sources that spoke to Reuters, Tencent has reached out to Ubisoft’s founding Guillemot family and intends to become the single largest stakeholder in Ubisoft. Tencent currently has a 5% stake in the company that was purchased in 2018, while the Guillemot family has a 15% stake, and is planning to offer up to 100 euros ($101.84) per share to increase its foothold. This figure is “way above” the company’s current price and is being offered as a way to keep potential competition away, one of the sources added.
Ubisoft was previously valued at $5.3 billion and share prices increased by up to 16% after the Reuters report went live. Reuters sources said that Tencent also plans to acquire shares from public shareholders of Ubisoft, which accounts for 80% of the firm’s owned stock. “Tencent is very determined to nail down the deal as Ubisoft is such an important strategic asset for Tencent,” one of the sources said.
Tencent does have stakes in US video game developers such as Epic Games and Riot Games, owns 9% of UK video gaming firm Frontier Developments, and is plans to buy Sumo Digital for $1.27 billion. Beyond those companies, Tencent also has minority investments in Activision Blizzard, Platinum Games, and many other studios.
Ubisoft, which managed to fight back against a takeover attempt by Vivendi several years ago, has usually dodged questions about potential acquisitions. In February, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that the company is not looking to sell, but any offers to sell would be looked at by him and the board of directors.
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