Will Ubisoft be the next major video game company to be acquired? According to Bloomberg and Kotaku sources, the French company would indeed attract interest from several mutual funds. Among the latter, Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co, two of the world’s largest companies, are currently exploring the possibility of acquiring the publisher ofAssassin’s Creed. An operation that is far from being recorded and, for the time being, is just one scenario among others.
An interest for Ubisoft
Corresponding Bloomberg, two capital investment giants are therefore analyzing the potential of a takeover of Ubisoft. According to the newspaper, internal consultations are only just beginning, and an offer has not yet been made. In addition, according to the newspaper, there have been no talks between Ubisoft and investment funds so far. tending to prove the very early nature of the Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. files.
On the Kotaku side, the position is a bit more pronounced. According to the magazine, Ubisoft has been working with consulting firms for audits of its activities for several years. An approach that Kotaku sources interpret as Ubisoft’s desire to clean up its accounts to facilitate resale. A bias that Ubisoft fails to recognize in an emailed response.
We do not comment on rumors or speculation. Ubisoft has unmatched creative and production capabilities with more than 20,000 talented people collaborating on game development in our global studios. Thanks to them, our long-term approach and our willingness to take creative risks, we have built some of the strongest private labels in the industry and have many promising brands and projects on the horizon. We also have one of the most comprehensive and diverse portfolios in the industry, state-of-the-art services and technology, and a large and growing community of dedicated players. As such, we are ideally positioned to take advantage of the rapid industry growth and platform opportunities that are emerging.
But a salvation far from concrete
So is Ubisoft about to buy it? We are still a long way from that.
First, because Ubisoft’s position is unclear. Yves Guillemot has rejected a takeover attempt by Vivendi in the past and it is not clear that he intends to sell his company any further today. According to Bloomberg, the Guillemot family owns around 15% of Ubisoft, which is valued at around $5 billion, and the operation will be difficult to achieve without their approval.
Next, buyout studies are the very basis of mutual fund operations. Put simply, the latter have no other purpose than to invest significant sums in growing companies in order to realize capital gains on a possible resale. The acquisition or participation in a company is therefore the daily life of these companies, which see files of this type going through on a daily basis.
However, when interest is evident and these mutual funds examine hundreds of scenarios each year, it’s not certain the gains will be enough to justify ending a buyback operation. And the Ubisoft case is little different. No offer is being submitted today and investment funds are only considering interest in an acquisition. In other words, we are far from an operation with a near result.
After all, the video game industry has been in full swing for the past few years. From Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard to Sony’s acquisition of Bungie, the sector’s consolidation looks set to continue in the coming months. So it’s logical that a company like Ubisoft, which owns some of the most popular and profitable video game licenses, would attract covetousness.
Especially since the law firm is rocked by internal scandals and a conversion of some of these flagship licenses. Ubisoft has also lost nearly 40% of its market value over the past three years. A context that is inevitably favorable for an investment or a takeover, giving a stronger echo to the news of the day.
Because what you need to remember for now is simply that Ubisoft is interesting for the greats of this world. And that is ultimately anything but new.
