Guillemot family of Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are exploring options, including purchasing a French video game maker after losing more than half its market value this year.
The claim, which was obtained by Bloomberg and is attributed to “people familiar with the matter,” comes after months of conjecture regarding Ubisoft’s future following the company’s forced reduction of its revenue projections for “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows,” their next big game.
The Guillemot family, Tencent, and the company’s founders are the main shareholders of Ubisoft, a publicly traded corporation.
On Friday, the shares of French video game developer Ubisoft rose more than 30% on media reports that Tencent and the company’s founding Guillemot family are discussing a possible purchase.
According to the report, a potential solution is a joint venture between Tencent and the Guillemot family to take the business private, according to sources familiar with the discussions, as reported by the business news agency.
With a 40% decline in its shares this year, Ubisoft’s market valuation is now approximately €1.8 billion ($2 billion).
According to Ubisoft’s most recent annual report, as of the end of April, Tencent held 9.2% of the company’s net voting rights, while the Guillemot family held roughly 20.5%.
A take-private or sale of Ubisoft to a strategic investor has been advocated by certain minority shareholders, such as AJ Investments, in the wake of the company’s sharp decline in stock price.
There is no guarantee that considerations will result in a transaction because they are still in the early stages.
The insiders claim that Tencent and the Guillemot family are also thinking of other options.
Yves Guillemot, one of the company’s co-founders and current CEO, would look for a deal that preserves his family’s stake as the main controlling owner.
This would enable Ubisoft to carry on under its current management, supported financially by Tencent, the most valuable firm in China.
We earlier reported that to advance the use of AI in car manufacturing, Toyota announced that it will collaborate with Tencent, the dominant player in Chinese gaming and social media.
