In 2024, Ubisoft's shares lost more than half of their value. In response, the company's founders and minority stakeholders, the Guillemot family, are considering selling it to a Chinese giant.
Bloomberg reports this, citing “people familiar with the situation.”
According to the American publication, Ubisoft is currently in talks with Tencent about the future of the company. The aim of these discussions is to stabilize the business and maintain its value.
One of the possible scenarios is Tencent buying out Ubisoft’s shares. Then, with joint efforts from the Guillemot family, Tencent could transition the company from public to private.
However, first, they would need to jointly acquire about 70% of all shares. Considering recent deals in the gaming realm, this is not an insurmountable amount. Ubisoft's market capitalization was around $1.5 billion before news of the negotiations with Tencent was published.
Secondly, it’s not certain that other shareholders of the French giant will agree to this. Both the Guillemot family and Tencent are minority stakeholders. The former only have 20.5% of voting rights, and the latter has 9.5%.
Nonetheless, considering that earlier this month some shareholders supported such a move, this development might be seen as a positive shift by the stockholders.
This is also reflected in the surge of Ubisoft’s stock, which occurred immediately following Bloomberg’s publication. Right after it, the value of the company’s shares soared by nearly 30% (from 10.7 to 13.6 euros per share).
Bloomberg emphasizes that its sources indicate the negotiations are in early stages. They could lead to very different outcomes, although specifics are not provided.
An important nuance: Besides its stake in Ubisoft, Tencent owns 49.9% of the holding company of the Guillemot brothers, Guillemot Brothers Limited.