(Paris) The founders of the French video game champion Ubisoft, the Guillemot family, sealed a union on Tuesday with the Chinese group Tencent to keep control of the publisher behind the series. Rayman Where Assassin’s Creed.
Posted at 1:05 p.m.
Updated at 1:45 p.m.
The Asian entertainment giant, a shareholder in the company since 2018, will this time invest 300 million euros in the family holding company, Guillemot Brothers Limited, to own 49.9% and the two partners will now act in concert, according to a press release.
This operation will allow the Guillemots and their partner to rise together to 19.8% of Ubisoft’s capital and 24.9% of the voting rights (compared to 15.4% and 21.4% respectively today) and to be in a better position to face possible hostile takeover attempts, such as that attempted by the Vivendi group in 2015, in a video game market in full consolidation.
The operation “reinforces the anchoring of Ubisoft’s reference shareholding around its founders and offers it essential stability for its long-term development”, commented its CEO, Yves Guillemot, quoted in the press release.
Tencent, which owns shares in several companies in the sector such as Epic Games, the publisher of the game phenomenon Fortnitesaid for its part through the voice of its president Martin Lau that the operation illustrated its desire to invest “alongside creative founders, being fully convinced that they will take their companies to new heights”.
In detail, Tencent’s investment breaks down into 200 million euros in the acquisition of securities and 100 million in capital increases.
Underlying, the transaction values Ubisoft stock at 80 euros ($104), nearly double its price at the close of the Paris Stock Exchange on Tuesday, which was 43.28 euros.
Following this agreement, Ubisoft’s governance remains unchanged and Tencent will have “no operational veto rights”.
Thus, while Tencent now controls 49.9% of Guillemot Brothers Limited, its voting rights in the portfolio company are limited to 5%, according to the press release.
Tencent is also authorized to increase its direct stake in Ubisoft from 4.5% to 9.99% of the capital and voting rights, but cannot go beyond this for eight years.
The alliance between Guillemot and Tencent could increase its influence to 29.9% of Ubisoft’s capital or voting rights.