Investment firms could be eyeing Ubisoft for a takeover

[Cal Jeffrey]

Rumor mill: With all the recent news of game studio acquisitions, it's probably no surprise to hear that Ubisoft is being considered for a possible takeover. However, it likely won't be by the usual suspects — Microsoft or Sony. The two primary interest holders are mega-conglomerate Blackstone and investment firm KKR. Other unnamed firms are eyeing the publisher as well.

Assassin's Creed publisher Ubisoft Entertainment is reportedly attracting takeover attention from private equity companies Blackstone Inc, KKR & Co, and others. Bloomberg sources with knowledge of the matter say that the firms have analyzed the prospects but have not committed to pursuing a buyout.

Co-founder and chairman of Ubisoft Yves Guillemot and his family are majority shareholders in the company with a collective 15-percent stake. Stock in the French game maker has dipped nearly 45 percent in the last year, with a market cap of 4.64 billion euros ($5.05 billion).

While the company seems ripe for the picking, investors are in very early deliberations and are unsure whether to proceed with offers. It is also not entirely clear if Ubisoft wants to be picked up. Guillemot and other execs have been vague on the matter and have kept their cards close to their vests.

French media giant Vivendi pursued a slow hostile takeover of Ubisoft for years. In 2017, Vivendi was poised to pounce holding a 26-percent stake. However, an uptick in valuation put the conglomerate's plans on ice, ruining hopes for a takeover for at least six months.

Eleven months later, Vivendi announced it was divesting all interest in Ubisoft due to a three-year growth spurt that saw share values rise over 400 percent. It was a good move too, as stock has plummeted more than 64 percent, diving from $24.10 per share in July 2018 to its current price of $8.62. The drastic dip makes Ubisoft's buyout price attractive for investors, while an injection of fresh capital might be enough to get the publisher back on track. Win-win.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/94325-investment-firms-could-eyeing-ubisoft-takeover.html

 

[trparky]

Ah yes, now the reason why NFTs were talked about by Ubisoft. It was all in an effort to make them look even more tempting by investment vultures.

 

[Puiu]

No wonder they were screaming "please buy us now". in a few more years they'll barely get any money since the value will continue to drop.

 

[winjer]

I offer 1000 NFTs for the whole company.
Since Ubisoft is so sure that NFTs are so very valuable, they are sure to accept my offer.

 

[RudyBob]

They made some good games. I wonder what happened.

 

[Nobina]

They made some good games. I wonder what happened.

Well, I sure as **** don't know which games are those.

 

[Revolution 11]

Well, I sure as **** don't know which games are those.

The last truly great games I played from Ubisoft were the first 2 Assassin's Creed games (Brotherhood MP was fun) and the Splinter Cell games Chaos Theory and Double Agent (the PS2/GC version). It has been a long slow steady decline since then.

 

[MaitieS]

Immortals Fenyx Rising was very good game I was a bit surprised that it was from Ubi cuz their games are sadly not good at all so yeah that is probably the reason why their games sucks cuz their development is like 2 years instead of 3-3.5y.

 

[RudyBob]

Well, I sure as **** don't know which games are those.

Guess ya think you got ripped off, eh? If not then you haven't played any. Such anger. Talk a walk or something

 

[QuaZulu]

Well, I sure as **** don't know which games are those.

Hmm, I dunno, I thought AC:Odyssey, FC3, and Ghost Recon:Wildlands were just amazing games - some of my favorites all-time. Reviews of a number of their recent games are also very high. To be sure, the basic premise of the games seems to be essentially the same (I.e. same game-different skin), but their attention to worldbuilding and detail has often been very good.

I suspect the problem is less their basic gameplay, but facing one lawsuit after another.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Hmm, I dunno, I thought AC:Odyssey, FC3, and Ghost Recon:Wildlands were just amazing games - some of my favorites all-time. Reviews of a number of their recent games are also very high. To be sure, the basic premise of the games seems to be essentially the same (I.e. same game-different skin), but their attention to worldbuilding and detail has often been very good.

I suspect the problem is less their basic gameplay, but facing one lawsuit after another.

Their basic gameplay is a major issue, it's the same game, go get the radio tower"open world" gameplay every single game. People are getting bored and the games are not setting sales charts on fire anymore.

 

[OptimumSlinky]

Their basic gameplay is a major issue, it's the same game, go get the radio tower"open world" gameplay every single game. People are getting bored and the games are not setting sales charts on fire anymore.

AC: Valhalla has absolutely sold gangbusters and is the most successful entry (sales wise) in the franchise.

You might hate the Ubi formula and be bored of it, but millions of people are buying it and playing it.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Their basic gameplay is a major issue, it's the same game, go get the radio tower"open world" gameplay every single game. People are getting bored and the games are not setting sales charts on fire anymore.

They haven't had radio towers in Far Cry since Far Cry 4. Far Cry 5 and 6 didn't have them at all. Although to be honest, I thought that the best was Far Cry 3.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

AC: Valhalla has absolutely sold gangbusters and is the most successful entry (sales wise) in the franchise.

You might hate the Ubi formula and be bored of it, but millions of people are buying it and playing it.

Valhalla is still on our must-play list even though it's approaching two years old.