Ubisoft, France’s biggest video game maker, remains open to other partners following the deal that will see China’s Tencent increase its stake in the company, its co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot said.
Guillemot’s comments, made at a closed-door press event the content of which the company asked not to be made public ahead of an online launch event on Saturday, came after a difficult day for Ubisoft shares, which fell a 17 percent after the group announced that Tencent would become its largest single shareholder with a global stake of 11 percent.
The deal values the “Assassin’s Creed” maker at about $10 billion.
“We remain totally independent and we can act with any external company if we want,” said Guillemot, who with his four brothers founded Ubisoft in 1986. “It was a great negotiation with Tencent,” he added. “We can do whatever we want”.
Traders and analysts have said the deal with Tencent, in which the world’s largest games company by revenue enters into a shareholders’ pact with the Guillemots, removes the speculative appeal of Ubisoft shares.
The group has long been considered a takeover target, as the Guillemots hold a minority stake in the group. However, the Guillemot brothers managed to prevent an incursion by French tycoon Vincent Bollore through his Vivendi media group.
Small mobile video game maker Gameloft, formerly run by Yves Guillemot’s brother Michel, was taken over by Vivendi six years ago.
The brothers, sons of agricultural merchants from a small town in Brittany (western France), have promised to protect their independence, a goal that Yves Guillemot, 62, reaffirmed on Thursday. “Our first intention is to be masters of our destiny,” he said.
significant progress
This outlook was recently tested by a combination of weak financial results and allegations of sexual harassment, which led to a revamp of the company’s governance and promises to change a corporate culture described as sexist by some former employees.
“Yes, we have stumbled and we recognize it,” Guillemot said. “We have learned a lot along the way and have made significant progress with concrete action plans led collectively by our leaders.”
The group has long been considered a takeover target, as the Guillemots hold a minority stake in the group.
Ubisoft burned around €200 million in cash operationally during its 2020/2021 financial year, having generated €169 million of operational cash flow the year before.
The company’s financial troubles were coupled with several delays in the release of new video games and increased pressure on management amid a wave of booms and mergers and acquisitions in the video game industry.
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These were especially marked by Microsoft’s plan to acquire “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.
As part of its plan to grow back, Ubisoft intends to roll out its three “pillar” games — “Assassin’s Creed,” “Far Cry” and “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six” — across all digital platforms, Guillemot said.
Ubisoft burned around €200 million in cash operationally during its 2020/2021 financial year
The group wants these three brands to reach a total of 3 billion euros in annual revenue in five years, Guillemot said.
Guillemot said that “Assassin’s Creed” will release its next “Mirage” edition in 2023. Ubisoft is also partnering with streaming platform Netflix to develop three original mobile games, including one based on Assassin’s Creed.
Article republished by the Chinese state media CGTN within the framework of an agreement between both parties to share content. Link to original article:https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-09-11/Ubisoft-CEO-says-still-open-to-other-partners-after-Tencent-deal-1dfbueAF8M8/index.html
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