Will Ubisoft soon be part of a Chinese mega-corporation?
How much longer will the Guillemot family dictate the direction of Ubisoft? Throughout most of the year, there were repeated indications that the ailing French publisher from an even bigger company could be taken over. Reported now the Reuters news agencythat the Chinese mega-corporation Tencent might be interested in Ubisoft.
What is Tencent planning?
Tencent has held a five percent stake in Ubisoft since 2018. According to four anonymous sources, the Chinese want to become Ubisoft’s largest shareholder in the foreseeable future. In this way, they could significantly determine the publisher’s future without having to buy the entire company. According to the sources, Tencent is willing to pay more than $100 per share, which is more than double the current value of Ubisoft stock.
Reuters also reports that Tencent is also targeting the Guillemot family holdings. CEO Yves Guillemot and Co. still own 15 percent of the company. Reuters also reports that Tencent executives reportedly visited the Guillemot family in May to outline what a potential deal would look like.
Tencent’s Impact on the West
It’s not the first time that Tencent executives have wanted to increase their influence over Western companies. In recent years, the Chinese have invested enormous sums of money to buy shares in games companies or even take them over completely. Funcom (Conan Exiles), Riot Games (League of Legends) and Digital Extremes (Warframe) are all owned by Tencent. They own 48 percent of the shares in Epic Games, 80 percent in Grinding Gear Games, and 84 percent in Supercell.
Tencent also has a foot in the door with Activision Blizzard, Paradox, Snapchat, Spotify, Tesla, Dontnod and a few more. The PC Games colleagues published a great video about Tencent in February, in which you can find out many more details. Checked in:
Since Ubisoft has not yet responded to the latest reports, it is unclear whether Tencent will go on a big shopping spree in Ubisoft stock country. Incidentally, the publisher had recently canceled various projects earlyaround “To save costs on potential risk projects and to prepare for economic uncertainties“.
Reference-www.buffed.de