Ubisoft shares rose 10% on Wednesday after news that the publisher of the assassin's Creed series could be acquired. According to dealreporter, a stock news and data service, the company's founder guillemot family is considering a partnership with a private equity company to acquire the company. The guillemot family holds 15.9% of Ubisoft and 22.3% of voting shares.
According to reports, dealreporter's article said that the family hopes to retain control of the company's operations and may cooperate with a private equity company to prevent a possible takeover offer.
Bloomberg reported on Friday that the French company behind the rainbow 6 and the island series is attracting interest from a number of private equity companies, including Blackstone Inc. and KKR & amp; Co.。
"Ubisoft has not conducted any serious negotiations with potential acquirers, and it is unclear whether its major shareholders are willing to make a deal," the report said.
The company has delayed the release of a large number of products in the past few years and its reputation has been damaged by misconduct scandals in the workplace. In recent months, with the increasing trend of integration in the game industry, the company has become the object of many speculations.
M & A activity in the game industry reached a record $85 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $150 billion this year, Microsoft The acquisition of Activision Blizzard and take two's acquisition of Zynga have been announced this year.
Ubisoft was asked at the earnings conference call in February this year whether it should resist various forms of integration actions in the industry in order to ensure that its game products can land on major platforms.
CEO Yves guillemot responded: "we will continue to involve all these platforms, because these platforms need excellent content." if we continue to produce excellent content like this, we should be able to guarantee the distribution rights of all platforms. "
"To Nintendo For example, we are the No. 1 third-party publisher. Nintendo is very interested in what we do. We can even develop games with their brands, so this cooperation exists and is very productive. "
The executive said he believed Ubisoft could remain independent and any takeover offer would be evaluated in the interests of stakeholders.