Ubisoft Fighting Hostile Takeover

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Vivendi is attempting a hostile takeover of Ubisoft? Pass the popcorn please, this could get interesting. :eek:


Mr. Guillemot and his four brothers started Ubisoft in France’s Brittany region and own a minority stake, expanding it more than 30 years to become one of the world’s top five video game publishers. They’re trying to push away Vivendi and its billionaire chairman, Vincent Bolloré, who has amassed a 15-per-cent stake in Ubisoft in recent months and made an unsolicited takeover offer worth some 500-million euros ($750-million) for another Guillemot brothers-run gaming company, Gameloft SE. The hostile bid on Gameloft is the first step in Vivendi’s larger ploy to force talks with the Guillemot family and take over Ubisoft, analysts at European investment bank Bryan, Garnier & Co. have said.
 
didn't Vivendi just sell them off?

You might be thinking about Activison Blizzard. Vivendi sold their shares back to Activision in 2013/2014. Ubi bought a division of AB (Massive Ent) from Vivendi in 2008.

This takeover should be very interesting considering EA owns 19% of Ubi after their hostile attempt.

I don't know about anyone else but I don't want 2 or 3 super developers making our games.
 
I don't know about anyone else but I don't want 2 or 3 super developers making our games.

That's the natural outcome though. As games get larger and larger, and costs continue to rise, only a handful of very large developers are going to be able to afford game production. Just like other industries, after a prolonged period of growth, you eventually get contraction, followed by a few key players dominating the market. Of the three major devs (EA, Activision, Ubisoft), Ubi is the smallest, thus most likely to get eaten. Long term, I expect only EA and Activision to remain AAA level publishers. Everyone else will either do smaller or more limited IP (Sega), or be absorbed by the larger corporations.
 
Never knew Gamesloft was a family company of Ubisoft. Guess I won't be afraid of their games anymore. lol They have lots of free games on the windows phone store and I have always been a tad iffy on the.

On topic, that sucks that somebody is trying to take them over. While no large company is perfect, they were a good game studio. Will suck to see somebody destroy Far Cry, Assassin's Creed and the rest of their IPs.
 
That's the natural outcome though. As games get larger and larger, and costs continue to rise, only a handful of very large developers are going to be able to afford game production. Just like other industries, after a prolonged period of growth, you eventually get contraction, followed by a few key players dominating the market. Of the three major devs (EA, Activision, Ubisoft), Ubi is the smallest, thus most likely to get eaten. Long term, I expect only EA and Activision to remain AAA level publishers. Everyone else will either do smaller or more limited IP (Sega), or be absorbed by the larger corporations.

This is very true, though it is also incredibly poor for us, the consumer. All large corporations are attempting to create pseudo monopolies in their industry, as you can then completely control the pricing model. Don't like piece meal games and massive quantities of paid DLC, tough, we control the market.

The insurance industry has been trying to do this for years, it is widely accepted that if any single Underwriter can control 30% or more of the domestic market, they can dictate price and product. Their competitors mostly fall in line when this happens, as the price increase is more appealing than competing.

This isn't just the future of the gaming industry, it is the future of the world as technology costs drive the small and medium guys out of business, and all we are left with is the giants that can afford robotic factories and hundred million dollar projects.

The only potential way to fight back is to stop buying 'cheapest' and start buying 'smallest' or 'local'. Even this is just a drop in the bucket as most people will continue to buy the cheapest clothing, pay the cheapest contractor, etc.
 
ScarJo_popcorn.gif~c200
 
So Vivendi sold their shares of one major game publisher, so they could buy a different game publisher? Those Activision shares must have been worth a lot!
 
So Vivendi sold their shares of one major game publisher, so they could buy a different game publisher? Those Activision shares must have been worth a lot!

A little over $8B. Vivendi used the cash to pay down debt during their strategic restructuring. They also sold off a few telecoms during the restructuring.

Looks like, from their latest acquisition, Vivendi is looking at expanding. Thanks to French law it would be easier for Vivendi to grab Ubi then any other dev. I am surprised EA hasn't offered to sell their portion to Vivendi since Vivendi is paying 150% per share. Vivendi just has to hit 30% to force a take over discussion in French courts.
 
they also own Nickelodeon... I interviewed with them a couple weeks ago but I could not drop everything and move back to cali. my guess is Ubisoft just had a huge number of people playing I think I saw the number on here some where... by my guess is that they either have a competing product and need to sink Ubisoft or they want to take control to change where the profits go. Of course if could be a no faith issue with crystal dynamics having huge loss in sales... who in their right mind takes record profits and throws them away to make some one the protagonist when every on knows tomb raiders was about staring a a chicks butt when she climbed things... and female role model lol. As for EA they get info for their court cases while they own stock... it is really things like this that shows companies make more sense than corporations ever will because a corp is only beholden to how much money it can make this quarter not how much it will make over a normal investment period of ten years...

short version the number of people wanting to play a game so much that most people pre-ordered to get a chance to play suggests that there is major money to be made. video games live and die by the quality of the developers but that is never considered during a hostile take over because most happen just before a game goes on sale since it takes two to five years to make a game but most of the sales profit falls in about two weeks when the game hits stores and the people's funds clear. So many investors buy up a company divended out then sell off the assets cheap to be able to buy another corporation on the cusp of making back there investment. Companies simply have to be bought from the owners so at least the person who starts the company gets the pay day not the investors who get there money back plus the profits and hard work put in getting the company there. All investors have different views... this only refers to the ones that find hostile takes overs ok.
 
Take the frickin' money and run!!! Don't look back. Jeez LOL
 
I remember Guillemot for their Maxi Sound 64 sound card -- was seriously considering getting this back in the '90s, but then I was offered a Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold sound card for a dirt cheap price :)
 
Never knew Gamesloft was a family company of Ubisoft. Guess I won't be afraid of their games anymore. lol They have lots of free games on the windows phone store and I have always been a tad iffy on the.

FYI, Gameloft is known for making sumbag mobile apps. Stay away.
 
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