Is Vivendi going to absorb Ubisoft?

Vivendi has taken over 20.1% of Ubisoft shares. However, he still denies the possibility of a hostile takeover. At least for the next six months.

Vivendi’s stake in Ubisoft increased to 20.1% last week, on June 14. And three days later, the company posted an ad on its own website, where it announced that it was not going to buy out a controlling stake in the publisher and developer. Nevertheless, he plans to continue to acquire shares “in accordance with the market situation.”

All these plans concern only the next 6 months. There is no question of a longer-term perspective.

The company noted that it “does not act in collusion with a third party.” And that he hopes for “fruitful cooperation with Ubisoft.”

There may be problems with the latter, given the background.

The fact is that at the end of May Vivendi brought the stake in Gameloft to 56%. In early June, this forced the company’s founder, Michel Guillemot, to leave. At parting, Guillemot said that Vivendi is acting to the detriment of Gameloft. And that the other members of the Guillemot family share the same opinion.

The connection with Ubisoft here is that it was created with the direct participation of Michel Guillemot. The company is currently managed by his brother, Yves Guillemot. That is, the attitude of Ubisoft’s management towards Vivendi’s actions is at least disapproving.

Apparently, with this in mind, Vivendi announced that it was going to review the composition of the board of directors in order for the management to better reflect the situation with the distribution of shares between the owners. In other words, to have more Vivendi representatives on the board of directors. And probably fewer representatives of the Guillemot.

The deal and the company’s subsequent statement have already affected the value of both parties. Ubisoft shares rose by 4.4%, Vivendi shares – by 3.4%.

Source: gamesindustry.biz

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