Ubisoft’s share price surged today in response to growing rumors that Chinese megacorporation Tencent is engaged in buyout talks.
The company responsible for Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six Siege has had a torrid year, with the closure of many studios, mass layoffs and game downtime. The company’s next massive game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, was pushed back to 2025, and Star Wars Outlaws failed to meet sales expectations.
According to ReutersUbisoft shareholders are “considering” how to organize a possible buyout of the French company without limiting the control of the founding Guillemot family. The Guillemot family is Ubisoft’s largest shareholder and is reportedly in talks with Tencent and “other investors” to finance a management buyout. Tencent is Ubisoft’s second-largest shareholder with a 10% stake and has not yet decided whether to finance the buyout, according to Reuters.
Reuters said Tencent’s indecision is “partly due to a request for more influence over future management decisions, including on the distribution of cash flow in exchange for financing the deal.” Apparently the Guillemot family hasn’t agreed to these terms yet, but Tencent is willing to wait until they come.
Tencent declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, and a representative of the Guillemot family did not respond. However, a Ubisoft spokesperson commented on this, saying: “We remain committed to making decisions in the best interests of all our stakeholders. In this context, as we have already indicated, the Company is also examining all its strategic options.”
Ubisoft shares fell to their lowest level in the past decade in September after a series of dramatic announcements regarding the performance of its games. In addition to the delay of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft announced its return to Steam after a period of exclusivity for the PC launch on the Epic Games Store, and Star Wars Outlaws was recently released on Valve’s platform.
This latest news comes on the heels of Ubisoft’s announcement of plans to close Call of Duty competitor XDefiant and its production studios in San Francisco and Osaka as it closes its Sydney facility, resulting in up to 277 employees losing their jobs. About half of the XDefiant team will be given roles elsewhere.
Ubisoft shares are up 12.52% today, December 6, following Tencent buyout reports.
Wesley is the UK news editor at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Wesley can be reached at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
