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Ubisoft Breathes Sigh of Relief as Vivendi Lays Out Plan to Sell All Remaining Shares

In March 2018, Vivendi agreed to sell all of its shares in Ubisoft, putting an end to a two-year tussle during which CEO Yves Guillemot fought tooth and nail to remain independent. The house of Assassin’s Creed can now breathe a huge sigh of relief as the French media conglomerate has laid out plans to sell off its remaining 6.7 percent of share capital.

In a press release, Vivendi announced that it’ll sell approximately 0.91 percent of its stock on October 1, 2018. The remaining 5.74 percent will be relinquished by March 5, 2019.

“Vivendi has given an undertaking to Ubisoft to sell all the shares it owns by March 7, 2019 (settlement date),” the company wrote in a statement. “In addition, Vivendi maintains its March 2018 commitment to refrain from purchasing Ubisoft shares for a period of five years.”

The last part of the statement is particularly important for Ubisoft because Vivendi seems to have a keen interest in the video games industry, and has a track record of deploying aggressive tactics to fulfill its ambitions. The company was involved in a lawsuit with Activision Blizzard, was behind the aggressive takeover of Gameloft (once owned by the Guillemot family), and continued to increase its stake in Ubisoft despite resistance.

All’s well that ends well.

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