Vivendi Increases Its Stake in Ubisoft Despite Yves Guillemot’s Concerns

Earlier this week, we reported that French media company Vivendi had purchased 6.6 percent of Ubisoft’s shares, prompting a response from CEO Yves Guillemot, who called it an unwelcome move. However, that hasn’t deterred Vivendi from increasing its stake in the video game developer. In a press release just a day after the last report, Vivendi announced that it had increased its equity share in Ubisoft to 10.39 percent. 

Ubisoft isn’t the only company that Vivendi is aggressively increasing its stake in. The conglomerate also holds a 10.20 percent stake in the video game company, Gameloft, and considers these investments “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.” 

A press release on the company’s website further explains that Vivendi is acting alone and reserves the right to increase its stake in both companies.

Vivendi is acting alone, is not in concert with a third party and has not concluded a temporary sale agreement regarding the Ubisoft and Gameloft shares or voting rights.

The Group reserves the right to increase its stake in these two companies depending on market conditions and the possibility, in due time, to be represented on their board.

Our readers seemed to have mixed opinions on the previous report, with some stating that Vivendi won’t necessarily have a say in Ubisoft’s business, but considering the increase in equity and Vivendi’s statement, do you think Ubisoft has a reason to be worried now? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

[Source: Vivendi]

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