[updated] Vivendi Universal take as bite out of UbiSoft - Yves Guillemot is not happy

[zMeul]

source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-10-21-ubisoft-were-going-to-fight-to-preserve-our-independence

 

 

 

Yves Guillemot has addressed concerns among Ubisoft's staff that Vivendi's recent share acquisition was a first move in an attempt to take control of the company.

 

In an internal email obtained by GamesIndustry.biz, Ubisoft's CEO acknowledged that "Vivendi and his [sic] chairman" had a reputation for, "aggressively pursuing companies within the entertainment sector."

Last week, Vivendi purchased 6.6 per cent of Ubisoft's stock for €140.3 million. In the email, Guillemot described the purchase as "unsolicited and unwelcome" - a sentiment that echoed a brief official response Ubisoft released in the aftermath of the deal.

 

"Our intention is and has always been to remain independent, a value which, for 30 years, has allowed us to innovate, take risks, create beloved franchises for players around the world, and which has helped the company grow into the leader it is today," Guillemot said.

 

"We're going to fight to preserve our independence. We should not let this situation - nor any future actions by Vivendi or others - distract us from our goals. Our best defence is to stay focused on what we have always done best - deliver the most original and memorable gaming experiences."

 

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update October 22nd: http://www.vivendi.com/press/press-releases/vivendi-increases-its-equity-interest-in-ubisoft-and-gameloft-en/

plot thickens, as of right now, Vivendi controls 10.39% of Ubisoft

 

Vivendi increased its equity stake in Ubisoft and Gameloft, two French companies with internationally-recognized know-how in video games, to respectively 10.39% and 10.20%.

On October 20, 2015, Vivendi held 11.60 million Ubisoft shares and 8.68 million Gameloft shares. These shares were acquired on the market for a total amount of respectively 244 million euros and 34.41 million euros and financed through the Group’s disposable cash.

These investments are part of a strategic vision of operational convergence between Vivendi’s content and platforms on one hand and the Ubisoft and Gameloft productions in video games on the other.

I don't have a exact quote on this, but Guillemot family owns around 9.9% of Ubi

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the funny thing about this possible takeover from Vivendi is not tingling my senses; I sincerely don't care enough for UbiSoft nor their games; and their recent blunders with PC products have surely alienated a lot of their clients

could such a buyout be detrimental to UBI? the answer is yes - we all know how Vivendi reigned over Activision-Blizzard  <_<

[PlayStation 2]

Karma's coming to bite them in the ass.

Although I'm surprised that Vivendi Universal would be the one to do this.

[AresKrieger]

Ubisoft is still not hated by me personally, though half of the assassins creed games are meh at best and of course unity is a nightmare, I don't really hold it against them too much because they seem to try to correct things in the long run, however I will not buy one of their games without knowing a lot about it due to recent short comings. But unlike companies like EA and Konami I don't really hate them.

[Bouzoo]

It's funny, they sold most of their shares of Activision Blizzard to Activision Blizzard, and this year they bought Ubisoft and Gameloft shares. Why...?

[AlexGoesHigh]

Really? this guys are just fuckwits with money, and as much of dicks ubisoft has been since last years, these asshole will make it worst.

It's funny, they sold most of their shares of Activision Blizzard to Activision Blizzard, and this year they bought Ubisoft and Gameloft shares. Why...?

They din't sold, Activision board made an offer these greedy fuckwits couldn't refuse, Activision literally bought its independence.

[That Norwegian Guy]

Activision continued shoveling out garbage post-Vivendi, don't worry Yves, you'll still be able to shovel out garbage and make retarded PR choices in the future, even under Vivendi. I welcome any destabilization of Ubisoft that could potentially lead to its demise.

[zMeul]

http://www.vivendi.com/press/press-releases/vivendi-increases-its-equity-interest-in-ubisoft-and-gameloft-en/

plot thickens, as of right now, Vivendi controls 10.39% of Ubisoft

Vivendi increased its equity stake in Ubisoft and Gameloft, two French companies with internationally-recognized know-how in video games, to respectively 10.39% and 10.20%.

On October 20, 2015, Vivendi held 11.60 million Ubisoft shares and 8.68 million Gameloft shares. These shares were acquired on the market for a total amount of respectively 244 million euros and 34.41 million euros and financed through the Group’s disposable cash.

These investments are part of a strategic vision of operational convergence between Vivendi’s content and platforms on one hand and the Ubisoft and Gameloft productions in video games on the other.

[Snadzies]

What are you afraid of, Ubisoft?

Afraid that they'll make you annualized your franchises to extinction, release games that are severely downgraded from all your preview / promotional material or are super buggy?

 

Oh, wait...

[QwarkDreams]

I start caring about them again when they finally release Beyond Good & Evil 2.

[suicidalfranco]

f ubisoft, early reviews of syndicate say it's still broken http://www.ubergizmo.com/2015/10/assassins-creed-syndicate-technical-mess/

now they're justified to release more broken games

[escape093]

If there's one thing that's unsolicited and unwelcome, it's the broken half-games that you're puking out, Ubisoft.

[Imabigmac]

Time to devalue, flood the market with stock.....

 

"If they are going to take us it, don't let them take us alive - burn it all.... "

 

That said they only have a 10% in Ubi so that is not too concerning yet. 

[zMeul]

That said they only have a 10% in Ubi so that is not too concerning yet.

they have more than Guillemot; but they still need 51% of the votes to take control of UBi

[Linusinium]

Hope whoever started a thread recently to complain about Valve not going public is reading this one...