Last week, we reported on negotiations in a potential Ubisoft buyout. But today a key detail in this deal has come to light.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the Guillemots are trying to make this deal with TenCent, currently Ubisoft’s biggest outside investor. TenCent currently owns 10 % of the company.
TenCent is the biggest video game company in the world, if you use the standard of its equity investments. The company has bought shares in over 600 companies overall, but it’s video game investments are truly noteworthy. Aside from Ubisoft, they have shares in Krafton, FromSoftware, Epic Games, Larian Studios, Remedy, and PlatinumGames.
They 100 % own Riot Games, have 80 % ownership of Path of Exile developer Grinding Gears Games. Most notoriously, they were named as a big investor in FromSoftware’s parent company Kadokawa, as well as Korean conglomerate Kakao, and of course, Sony.
But on top of all that, TenCent have video game studios in their native China that they founded and fully own. We have been recently covering their big PvP shooter, Delta Force. Recently, they also unveiled their Palworld copycat Light of Motiram.
TenCent is negotiating with the Guillemots to get a bigger voice in board room decisions. For example, they want to be able to chime in on issues like cash flow distribution. In contrast, the Guillemots are trying to retain management control of the company, a very hard sell for them given how the company has performed in the past few years.
While this may seem like a hostile takeover, this is actually still not quite that. The Guillemots are trying to make this deal come together precisely because they are trying to stave off that hostile takeover. And that takeover has some real teeth behind it.
Last September, AJ Investments accused TenCent and the Guillemots of collusion. TenCent was allegedly selling back their shares to the family, with the rest of the board being unaware. So, this behavior itself was part of the reason for Ubisoft’s current crisis, but AJ Investments still does need to play nice with TenCent, because they have a significant voting power as majority shareholder.
But the way things stand now, TenCent may choose to step away from this Guillemot deal. They are apparently satisfied with their 10 % share in the company to maintain its “gaming business cooperation with the company.”
If TenCent does step aside, AJ and other minority investors will now be in a position to negotiate that buyout. That may or may not be that hostile takeover, depending on how the Guillemots cut it. And then there are less savory possibilities for the company. Ultimately, none of this would have happened if the Guillemots hadn’t made too many mistakes, leading to too many failed game launches. We can only hope that the company finds their way, but what the developers do may have no bearing on what their owners decide.
