Image: Ubisoft
Private equity firms may start to revolve around Ubisoft, Bloomberg reported Friday. The talks are premature but include interest from companies including Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co.Including current and former Ubisoft senior developers, even if not private equity small house People who have spoken to in recent months believe the company will eventually be sold to someone amid falling stock prices and ongoing production difficulties.
Bloomberg Two of the world’s largest private equity firms, Blackstone and KKR & Co., have been “researching the French business” and have “preliminary acquisition interest” in Ubisoft, but the company has yet to reach “any serious discussions with a potential acquirer,” the report said. negotiation.”
according to small houseUbisoft has been working closely with several external consulting firms in recent years to audit various parts of its business, the sources said.While the company is doing this to boost profits and prepare for the future, sources small house With hints that this is a sign that Ubisoft is trying to sort out its books for potential sales.
In the latest wave of big game acquisitions, including Grand Theft Auto With publisher Take-Two’s acquisition of Zynga, Sony’s acquisition of Bungie, and Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it seems like a game of eat or be eaten for those who stay. EA CEO Andrew Wilson said the same thing on an earnings call earlier this year, in which he put the FIFA publisher firmly in the “big fish eat other fish” camp.
Ubisoft has always been shy about its survival strategy. When asked on a recent earnings call why the French publisher did not appear to have received any bid interest, CFO Frédérick Duguet said he would not speculate until CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot corrected Why no offer was made. Guillemot asserted that the company has neither confirmed nor denied it “if” a potential buyer had approached it.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 Been bleeding and MIA for years.Image: Ubisoft
If someone does want to buy Ubisoft, they’ll probably get it at a huge discount. The stock traded above $24 per share in July 2018. Now under $9. But they still need to go through the Guillemot family, which is currently estimated to own 15% of the business with a market value of just under $5 billion.
Chief executive Yves Guillemot successfully fended off a hostile takeover attempt by French media group Vivendi after securing funding from Tencent and others in 2018. But some current and former sources inside the company now believe that the 35-year video game industry veteran may be looking for an exit strategy.
They point to the departure of his son Charlie Guillemot last year, leaving no relatives to take over the family business. Ubisoft has also been hit by a continuing wave of its senior talent drain. The company continues to struggle after a workplace reckoning over sexual misconduct that began in the summer of 2020. Some of its biggest projects continue to face turmoil, delays or development woes.
as Bloomberg It was reported in February that Ubisoft decided to add one of the Assassin’s Creed ValhallaInstead of helping patch holes in its release calendar over the next 18 months, the planned DLC turned into a standalone stopgap game.At the same time, next far cry, Ghost Reconand mature Assassin’s Creed The game is still further away than Ubisoft’s previous plans, according to three sources familiar with the game’s development.
When asked for comment, a Ubisoft spokesperson sent small house The following statement:
We do not comment on rumors or speculation. Ubisoft has unparalleled creative and production capabilities, with more than 20,000 talented people working together to develop games in our global studios. Thanks to them and our long-term approach and willingness to take creative risks, we have built some of the strongest proprietary brands in the industry, with many promising new brands and projects. We also have the deepest and most diverse product portfolio in the industry, cutting-edge services and technologies, and a large and growing community of participants. As such, we are ideally positioned to capitalize on the rapid industry growth and platform opportunities that are emerging right now.
