French media conglomerate, Vivendi, has inched closer to a hostile takeover of Ubisoft. The company now owns more than 25 percent of the shareholding threshold in the Assassin’s Creed developer, and for those who aren’t familiar with French law, a 30 percent stake means Vivendi will be required to make a mandatory takeover bid.
Oddly, Vivendi continues to deny that it wants control of Ubisoft. Even in its latest press release announcing an increase in stake, the company says that it’s “not considering the launch of a public tender on Ubisoft nor acquiring the control of the company.” Apparently, all it wants is “fruitful cooperation with Ubisoft.”
Going by Vivendi’s recent moves, however, Ubisoft isn’t convinced. It was its very own CEO Yves Guillemot’s brother who owned mobile developer Gameloft, which fell victim to a hostile takeover by Vivendi not very long ago.
That said, Vivendi isn’t making any secret of its desire to further purchase Ubisoft stock as the company clearly states it’ll continue to do so “depending on market conditions.”
[Source: Vivendi]
