Following the recent storm of huge acquisitions throughout the industry, Ubisoft chairman Yves Guillemont has reiterated its stance on being acquired by private firms in a recent earnings call, stating that it has all it needs to “remain independent.”
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This is in line with a recent report that claims Ubisoft’s founders, the Guillemot family, are willing to fight for the company’s independence. However, this doesn’t mean an acquisition isn’t possible, with all offers still being reviewed and considered if they are “in the interest of all shareholders and our great teams.” This is standard practise for publicly traded companies, however and doesn’t indicate any extensive interest in an acquisition.
Bloomberg reported as recently as last April that several private equity firms, including Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co were eyeing up Ubisoft as a potential acquisition target, although it’s stated that there have been no serious negotiations at the time of the report.
This isn’t the first time that a potential Ubisoft acquisition has made headlines, with the company notably fighting back against a hostile takeover by French mass media holding company Vivendi. The Activision Blizzard, Bungie, and Zynga acquisitions earlier this year have made the subject a hot button topic within the medium recently, with Ubisoft being an obvious large target given its swathe of valuable IP.
Ubisoft has also been the subject of controversy within the past two years, with a large array of abuse allegations being filed by employees in 2020. Several of Ubisoft’s upcoming projects, such as Beyond Good and Evil 2, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, and Skull and Bones have also been met with troubled development cycles.
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