After last week’s purchase of a 6.6 percent stake in Ubisoft for 140 million euros and a 6.2 percent stake in Gameloft for 19.7 million euros, Vivendi has once again purchased shares in both companies.
Today, Vivendi announced additional shares purchased in Ubisoft and Gameloft, totaling a 10.39 and 10.20 percent stake in each company, respectively. Vivendi’s total purchase price in Ubisoft stock now totals 244 million euros or about $271 million.
"These investments are part of a strategic vision of operational convergence between Vivendi's content and platforms on one hand and the Ubisoft and Gameloft productions in video games on the other," Vivendi said in a press release. "Vivendi is acting alone, is not in concert with a third party, and has not concluded a temporary sale agreement regarding the Ubisoft and Gameloft shares or voting rights."
Previously, Vivendi owned an 85 percent stake in Activision Blizzard, which it sold off in 2013 for more than $8 billion. Its move away from the video game entertainment industry was done so that Vivendi could focus on its TV and music efforts, the company said at the time. It now appears that Vivendi is looking to buy its way back into the industry it left more than two years ago.
Ubisoft currently has Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Rainbow Six Siege, and Far Cry Primal in its list of upcoming titles. Gameloft publishes mobile games based on existing IP like Ice Age, CSI, and Brothers in Arms. Gameloft was founded by Michael Guillemot, a co-founder of Ubisoft. All three companies, Vivendi, Ubisoft, and Gameloft, are headquartered in France.
