According to a recent report by Reuters, the Chinese gaming company Tencent plans to offer €100 per share to buy more Ubisoft stakes from the Guillemot family and turn into the largest shareholder of Ubisoft.

While none of the parties have commented on this report, Reuters claims that Tencent is determined to own the majority of stakes in Ubisoft, and they are offering a price “way above” the company’s current price to avoid any competition.

Currently, the Guillemot family, the current CEO of Ubisoft, owns 15% stakes in the company, while 80% of the stakes belong to the public shareholders. Back in 2018, Tencent purchased 5% stakes in Ubisoft for €66 per share. Now, the Chinese company has reportedly approached the Guillemot family with a new offer, but it is unknown whether Tencent plans to own all the 15% stakes of the Guillemot family or plans to leave them as a minority shareholder.

According to Reuters, Tencent also plans to buy stakes from public shareholders to become the single-largest shareholder of Ubisoft. Sources have told Reuters that the deal is yet to be finalized and the details above are subject to change.

Tencent’s domestic business in gaming has not been profiting enough in the last few months. As a result, the company seeks to expand its presence in the global market, where they have experienced a 4% increase in revenue in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

Tencent is already a shareholder of Epic Games, Riot Games, and Supercell. The company is interested in free-to-play multiplayer games where in-game purchases act as the main source of monetization. Currently, Ubisoft doesn’t own any big free-to-play titles, but Rainbow Six Siege is the company’s longest-running multiplayer game and one of the most popular hero-shooter titles in the world.

It’s yet to be seen how the future would change for Ubisoft and its highly popular franchises such as Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, and Ghost Recon if the deal goes through, but for now, nothing has been officially confirmed.

It’s worth noting that since the report above has gone live on Reuters, Ubisoft’s stakes have increased in price by 7%.



Posted: Aug 07, 2022 7:21 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/tencent-reportedly-aims-to-become-the-biggest-shareholder-of-ubisoft/