Vivendi has made its exit from Ubisoft and Tencent has entered the firm by buying 5% stake in the company. With this deal, Ubisoft has stayed independent.
Ubisoft has announced it has managed to stay independent thanks to the complete exit of Vivendi in the company’s setup. On top of that, Tencent has entered the French publisher with 5% of the shares.
In this process, Vivendi has managed to obtain around €2 bn out of the shares it had purchased thus far, around 27% in the publisher of games like The Division 2, Rainbow Six Siege and Assassin’s Creed Origins.
As part of the move, Guillemot Brothers SE has also added 2,7% shares to those which the company already owned, bringing the total up to around 18%. Tencent is seen as a strategic partner to allow the company to reach the Chinese market faster.
“The evolution in our shareholding is great news for Ubisoft. It was made possible thanks to the outstanding execution of our strategy and the decisive support of Ubisoft talents, players, and shareholders. I would like to warmly thank them all,” CEO Yves Guillemot said in a press release.
“The investment from new long-term shareholders in Ubisoft demonstrates their trust in our future value creation potential, and Ubisoft’s share buy-back will be accretive to all shareholders. Finally, the new strategic partnership agreement we signed will enable Ubisoft to accelerate its development in China in the coming years and fully leverage a market with great potential.
Today, Ubisoft is fully reaping the benefits of our long-term strategy and the successful transformation towards a more recurring and profitable business. Ubisoft is perfectly positioned to capture the numerous video game growth drivers in the coming years. We are focused more than ever on delivering on our strategic plan.”
Ubisoft also posted a tweet celebrating the event and giving heartfelt thanks to the audience and people who have always supported the company in order to sustain its independence.
