The founding family of Ubisoft, Guillemot, and shareholder Tencent are considering making the company private. The decision is made to stabilize the company amid flop releases and collapsing market share.
According to Bloomberg, the founders and Tencent are considering more options to save the company losses other than the buyout itself.
People who have shared this information asked to remain incognito while the company’s representatives have made no comments on this matter.
Ubisoft shares fell 40% this year. The total market cap of the company currently is $2 billion. Moreover, the total shares held by the founders are just over 20%, while Tencent owns only 9% of the company’s shares as shared in the company’s annual report.
Ubisoft sell out option in consideration amidst the stock plunge
In September, Ubisoft revealed a weaker turnout of sales than expected. Adding to the flop release, the developers also delayed Assasin’s Creed Shadows for next year. Due to this, the shares of the company dropped to the bottom in over 10 years.
Reportedly, other minority shareholders like AJ Investments have suggested selling the company to an investor for strategic changes amidst stock collapse.
However, these discussions are still at an early stage. Guillemot brothers along with the Chinese tech company are exploring other options as well.
Bloomberg also reported, on Friday the shares of Ubisoft have increased by 33% in Paris. This is the follow-up of ongoing considerations regarding the privatization of the company. The investors may be showing interest and believe the company may stay afloat if strategic changes are made.
In 2022 equity firms like Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. showed interest in possible bids in Ubisoft. This was during when major deals were happening around the gaming industry.
To keep off these investors, the founding family partnered with Tancent later that year. The total shares of 49.9% were bought off by the tech company Guillemot Brothers, with a 10% share in Ubisoft itself.
The deal also kept Tancent to not sell the shares for 5 years only for the family to buy them back at the first chance.
Keeping their control over the company, Yves Guillemot, the chairman of the company said last year that they can still with whoever they want.
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