The battle for ownership of Ubisoft intensified yesterday as the Guillemot family acquired a further four million shares worth 144 million euros, increasing its stake in the games maker by 3.5 per cent.
As of July the Guillemots held only nine per cent of the firm and 15 per cent of the voting rights.
The move by Guillemot Brothers SE comes as efforts increase to keep Ubisoft independent and out of the hands of Vivendi SA, which now owns just over 20 per cent of the publisher.
Vivendi has already been successful in a hostile takeover of the Guillemots’ Gameloft business.
“We are seeing a race between Vivendi and Guillemot brothers,” Charles-Louis Planade, head of research at Louis Capital Markets – Midcap Partners, said in an e-mail to Bloomberg. “If Vivendi wants Ubisoft, it will have to pay for it.”
A Ubisoft shareholder meeting is scheduled for September 29, with the Guillemots said to be lobbying other shareholders for support with the promise of better returns should the business remain independent.
Neither party has commented.
Source: Bloomberg
