A few days ago, Bloomberg broke the news that several private equity companies have been paying attention to french game publisher Ubisoft and have become interested in acquiring Ubisoft. According to Bloomberg, these potential acquirers include Blackstone, KKR & Co., etc., but Ubisoft has not held any serious negotiations with them and it is unclear whether Ubisoft's major shareholders are willing to sell the company.
Ubisoft's stock price rose 11 percent on Friday after the news broke. But according to people familiar with the matter, the potential acquirer's inspection of Ubisoft is still in the early stages and it is uncertain whether it will make an acquisition offer.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the family of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is the company's largest shareholder, with a 15 percent stake. Over the past year, Ubisoft's share price has fallen by 41% on the Paris Stock Exchange and is currently worth around 4.8 billion euros.
Representatives of Blackstone and KKR Declined to comment on bloomberg's report. Ubisoft said in an emailed statement that the company has built a strong portfolio that will be able to capitalize on emerging opportunities in the overall environment of the rapid growth of the gaming industry. Ubisoft declined to comment on any interest in the acquisition from outside.
The consolidation trend in the gaming industry has accelerated in recent years. According to investment bank Drake Star Partners, the total amount of money raised in acquisitions and M&A deals in the global gaming industry reached a record $85 billion in 2021 and could soar to $150 billion this year.
In the months since the beginning of 2022, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Take-Two's acquisition of Zynga, and Sony's acquisition of Bungie have caused a sensation. As one of the world's largest third-party game publishers, Ubisoft has famous series such as Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six, Far Cry and Full Dance, and is considered by many to be the next giant publisher to be acquired in the gaming industry.
In February, Ubisoft CEO Yves Gullimot said on an earnings call that the company hopes to continue to launch games for major platforms. "We're going to continue to access all platforms because all platforms need great content. If we continue to produce great content like we do today, we will have the ability to continue to use them... If you look at Nintendo, we are the number one third-party publisher on the Nintendo platform. Nintendo is interested in everything Ubisoft does, and we're even working productively with Nintendo to develop games using their brand. ”
However, Gullimot stressed that in order to fully consider the interests of stakeholders, Ubisoft will also carefully evaluate all acquisition proposals.
"We always make decisions with all stakeholders in mind, including our employees, players and shareholders. Ubisoft can remain independent: we have the talent, the financial resources and a large number of original IPs. That being said, if there are other companies proposing to acquire Ubisoft, the board will certainly evaluate them from the standpoint of all stakeholders. ”
Frédéric Dugat, Ubisoft's Chief Financial Officer, added: "We have high-value assets that are able to operate independently and continue to create very meaningful value in the future because we are large in terms of workforce, technology, IP and active players. That's why we're able to deliver high-quality content for so many platforms... Of course, we will no longer speculate whether there are companies interested in acquiring Ubisoft. ”