Speculation around the future of Ubisoft has resumed. This Friday, October 4, press information suggesting a possible takeover by the Chinese tech giant Tencent and the Guillemot family, founder and main shareholder of the group, caused the stock to jump by more than 30% on the Paris Stock Exchange.
According to the financial agency BloombergTencent and the Guillemot family are exploring several options, including a takeover and an exit of Ubisoft from the stock market.
Contacted by AFP, Ubisoft did not wish to comment and Tencent did not immediately respond. The Chinese giant, with whom the Guillemot brothers have sealed a union in 2022 to keep control of the company, holds nearly 10% of the capital, while the Guillemot family owns around 15% and Crédit Agricole nearly 12%. %.
Ubisoft’s stock price had fallen sharply since the start of the year, while the French video games giant has been accumulating disappointments. “The performance of our second quarter did not live up to our expectations”, declared its CEO Yves Guillemot at the end of September, after “lower than expected” first sales of its latest blockbuster, “Star Wars Outlaws”, forcing the company to lower its financial objectives. He also announced the postponement from November 15, 2024 to February 14, 2025 of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows”, the next game in its flagship series, to allow its teams to refine the title, on which Ubisoft is banking to relaunch.
To maximize its chances of success, the company said that the game would also be released on the online sales platform Steam rather than keeping it on its own store, as it is accustomed to.
Under pressure
Ubisoft is also under pressure from some of its shareholders: at the beginning of September, the Slovak investment fund AJ Investments published an open letter expressing its “deep dissatisfaction” with the management of the Guillemot family. “Privatize Ubisoft or let it sell to a strategic investor,” demands this fund, which holds less than 1% of the group. AJ Investments has since claimed to have gathered the support of 10% of shareholders and secured a meeting with management on October 1.
“We recognize the need for greater efficiency while satisfying demanding players,” Yves Guillemot conceded at the end of September, announcing an internal review to achieve “a more efficient model” for shareholders.
Analysts from the American investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald recently lowered their recommendation on Ubisoft shares from “overweight” to “neutral”, thus inviting security holders to reduce their positions. They particularly focused on the disappointment of players after the release of “Outlaws”. Analysts also took a dim view of the announcement at the end of July of the postponement of two mobile games, “Rainbow Six Mobile” and “The Division Resurgence”, previously expected for the 2025 fiscal year which ends on March 31 .
Threat of strike
This is not the first time that the question of the takeover of the French video games giant has agitated the industry: Tencent made its entry into the capital in 2018 after a long struggle between Vivendi, wishing to take power within the publisher, and the Guillemot brothers. The battle ended with the withdrawal of Vincent Bolloré’s group, which nevertheless took away Gameloft, the publisher of video games for mobile phones regretfully let go by the Guillemots. Furthermore, discontent is also growing within the teams.
Several unions have called for a strike on October 15, for 3 days, in Ubisoft’s French studios to protest against a return to face-to-face meetings which they consider “forced”. They also demand the opening of “a real negotiation” on teleworking, as well as an increase in salaries, a subject which caused a major movement in February. Nearly 700 employees stopped work on February 14, leading to one of the largest mobilizations in the sector.