Ubisoft’s founding family is on a mission to secure funds to keep their company financially stable while ensuring they maintain control over its future.
A report from Reuters reveals that the Guillemot family, who hold the most shares in Ubisoft, is seeking financial support from Tencent and others for a “management-led buyout.” Yves Guillemot and his relatives want to stay in charge, which is making these money talks tricky. Tencent is asking to have more influence in Ubisoft’s decisions if they invest more money, but there’s a chance they might not put any more cash into the company at all.
The goal for Tencent seems to be to keep other companies from trying to take over Ubisoft, as Vivendi tried to do back in 2017. Ubisoft managed to fend them off with help from Tencent and a Canadian pension plan. Right now, Tencent owns almost 10% of Ubisoft, while the Guillemot family has 15%.
In a statement, Ubisoft said, “We remain committed to making decisions in the best interests of all of our stakeholders,” emphasizing they are exploring all options. Earlier this week, Guillemot told employees in a memo about the company’s ongoing discussions, especially after shutting down XDefiant and closing several studios, which led to many people losing their jobs. He shared, “I am working tirelessly with my team to identify the best solutions so we can maintain control of our destiny.”
Fans hope everything turns out okay.
Back in October, there was talk about different possibilities between Ubisoft and Tencent, like a full buyout. Ubisoft admitted talks were happening but nothing was close to being finalized. Meanwhile, minority shareholder AJ Investments, a hedge fund, suggested in September that Ubisoft should go private and revamp its strategy.
Ubisoft faced a tough time in September when their stock dropped to its lowest since 2015, falling 12.6% after Star Wars Outlaws didn’t sell as well as expected. They also pushed back the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows from November 15 to February 14, 2025, to learn from the feedback on Star Wars Outlaws. Today, December 6, Ubisoft’s stock jumped up by 16% after the Reuters report, but it’s still down over 70% from five years ago.
