(Paris) Speculation around the future of Ubisoft resumed on Friday after press reports suggesting a possible takeover by the Chinese technology giant Tencent and the Guillemot family, founder and main shareholder of the group, causing the stock to jump by more than 30%.
According to the financial agency Bloomberg, Tencent and the Guillemot family are exploring several options, including a buyout and an exit of Ubisoft from the stock market.
Contacted by AFP, Ubisoft did not wish to comment on the news and Tencent did not immediately respond.
The Chinese giant, with whom the Guillemot brothers have sealed a union in 2022 to keep control of the company, holds nearly 10% of the capital, while the Guillemot family owns around 15% and Crédit Agricole nearly 12%. %.
Remember that Ubisoft has studios in Montreal, Quebec, Saguenay and Sherbrooke. The Montreal studio is also the largest of the French company which has its head office in Montreuil, a suburb of Paris.
Ubisoft’s stock price had fallen sharply since the start of the year, with the French video games giant accumulating disappointments.
“The performance of our second quarter did not live up to our expectations,” declared its CEO Yves Guillemot at the end of September, after “lower than expected” first sales of his latest blockbuster, Star Wars Outlawsforcing the company to lower its financial objectives.
He also announced the postponement from November 15, 2024 to February 14, 2025 of Assassin’s Creed Shadowsthe next game in its flagship series, to allow its teams to refine the title, on which Ubisoft is banking to relaunch.
To maximize its chances of success, the company said that the game would also be released on the online sales platform Steam rather than keeping it on its own store, as it is accustomed to.
Under pressure
Ubisoft is also under pressure from some of its shareholders: at the beginning of September, the Slovak investment fund AJ Investments published an open letter expressing its “deep dissatisfaction” with the management of the Guillemot family.
“Privatize Ubisoft or let it sell to a strategic investor,” demands this fund, which holds less than 1% of the group.
AJ Investments has since claimed to have gathered the support of 10% of shareholders and obtained a meeting with management on 1er october.
“We recognize the need for greater efficiency while satisfying demanding players,” Yves Guillemot conceded at the end of September, announcing an internal review to achieve “a more efficient model” for shareholders.
Analysts from the American investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald recently lowered their recommendation on Ubisoft shares, from “overweight” to “neutral”, thus inviting security holders to reduce their positions. They particularly focused on the disappointment of players after the release ofOutlaws.
Analysts also took a dim view of the announcement at the end of July of the postponement of two mobile games, Rainbow Six Mobile And The Division Resurgencepreviously expected for the 2025 financial year which ends on March 31.
Threat of strike
This is not the first time that the question of the takeover of the French video games giant has agitated the industry: Tencent made its entry into the capital in 2018 after a long struggle between Vivendi, wishing to take power within the publisher, and the Guillemot brothers.
The battle ended with the withdrawal of Vincent Bolloré’s group, which nevertheless took away Gameloft, the publisher of video games for mobile phones regretfully let go by the Guillemots.
Furthermore, discontent is also growing within the teams.
Several unions have called for a strike on October 15, for three days, in Ubisoft’s French studios to protest against a return to face-to-face meetings which they consider “forced”.
They also demand the opening of a “real negotiation” on teleworking, as well as an increase in salaries, a subject which caused a major movement in February.
Nearly 700 employees stopped work on February 14, leading to one of the largest mobilizations in the sector.