A Ubisoft shareholder has called for the dismissal of Yves Guillemot and to take the company private
AJ Investments, an investment fund holding a minority stake in Ubisoft, published an open letter to the leaders of the French company and its other shareholders. The fund expressed "deep dissatisfaction with the current activities and strategic direction" of Ubisoft.
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The shareholder called Ubisoft an undervalued company. In their opinion, Ubisoft shares should be valued at 40-45 euros each, whereas they are currently offered for significantly less on the stock market. They added that over the past year, the company's stock value has plummeted by more than 40%, while competitors' stocks have appreciated.
According to AJ Investments, the reason for this is ineffective leadership. Ubisoft's top management is more concerned with attractive numbers in quarterly reports than with the development of the company in the long term. Additionally, the shareholder claims that the Guillemot family and Tencent deliberately understate Ubisoft's market value to gradually acquire more shares at a low price.
AJ Investments urged Ubisoft to:
1. replace the current leaders, including CEO Yves Guillemot. Overall, to conduct new staff cuts, optimize expenses, consider selling some studios, and focus on working with key IPs;
2. take Ubisoft private, removing it from the stock exchange, while ensuring Tencent remains an important partner;
3. sell Ubisoft, with the potential buyer being either the Guillemot family with Tencent or an outside company.
AJ Investments emphasized that various minority shareholders own 70% of Ubisoft. The fund intends to convince them to oppose the current company leadership if it does not support the proposed suggestions.
