Vivendi, the French Media Conglomerate that Activision fought so hard to buy itself back from, is making big plays at a hostile takeover of Ubisoft. Just recently, the company managed to take a controlling stake in Ubisoft’s sister company, the mobile-focused Gameloft.
Ubisoft has been doing all that it can to stave off this takeover – including courting other investors, and letting employees buy discounted shares.
Here’s what Ubiboss Yves Guillemot said of the threat to their independence:
“Our intention is and has always been to remain independent, a value which, for 30 years, has allowed us to innovate, take risks, create beloved franchises for players around the world, and which has helped the company grow into the leader it is today.
We’re going to fight to preserve our independence. We should not let this situation – nor any future actions by Vivendi or others – distract us from our goals. Our best defence is to stay focused on what we have always done best – deliver the most original and memorable gaming experiences.”
In a further effort to keep Vivendi at bay, Ubisoft has bought back 3.625 million shares, at a cost of $137.9 million from French Investment Bank BPIFrance.
“We want to express our warm gratitude to Bpifrance for its support during all these years,” CEO Yves Guillemot said in a press release.
Say what you will about Ubisoft and its corporate policies, but the company is staffed by some of the passionate and hardworking people in the games industry. A takeover by Vivendi helps nobody but Vivendi.
Last Updated: September 27, 2016
Ottokie
September 27, 2016 at 10:35
Anyone here willing to give me a tl:dr of who the hell Vivendi is 😛
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 10:50
They owned Blizzard and Activision.
Now they don’t.
Ottokie
September 27, 2016 at 10:51
But why are they evil?
I checked the wiki as well and nothing really comes up
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 10:51
They are not really evil … just super corporate like EA.
Ottokie
September 27, 2016 at 10:52
But Ubi and EA are one in the same with their “business” models
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 10:53
Yeah but Ubisdoft still thinks that they are a game dev that makes games for gamers. Unfortunately they are not.
Also no one ever mentions that Vivendi saved Winamp from going extinct.
I really hope they buy Ubisoft.
Dungeon of JJ
September 27, 2016 at 10:54
I can see upsides and downsides to this.
So I’ll just stick to other devs instead 🙂
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 10:55
Thing is I really want a BG&E2 and Ubisoft refuses to make it.
Dungeon of JJ
September 27, 2016 at 11:54
BG&E…..wait…..processing.
Dungeon of JJ
September 27, 2016 at 11:59
Nope. I got nothing.
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 12:18
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/169b79456ad9222b45c799add5ce11d246386d15ce8029011f2b3504ff77b241.jpg
Dungeon of JJ
September 27, 2016 at 12:19
Ah. I don’t think I’ve played it.
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 12:19
WHAT!!!!
Dungeon of JJ
September 27, 2016 at 12:23
I don’t even know what it’s about.
*googling*
I went through a “quiet time” wrt gaming where I missed out quite a few games.
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 12:26
this 16 years ago more or less
Dungeon of JJ
September 27, 2016 at 12:28
Yea, that’s about the time, I think. I only really got back into gaming again after Fallout 3 and Skyrim. So I missed a few of the early 2000s games. 🙁
Ottokie
September 27, 2016 at 10:54
Winamp did go extinct xD
But yea, Ubi makes sub par games. Like The Crew that came out not long ago, sure it’s free now but damn it looks like crap in game.
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 10:55
Uhm … my winamp updated last month still so if you know something I don’t please share.
Ottokie
September 27, 2016 at 11:03
All the cool kids use youtube playlists 😛
Dungeon of JJ
September 27, 2016 at 12:05
They went with quantity over quality there though. Which I personally didn’t mind. With a map as large and diverse as that, I put in over 200 hours before I started feeling like was doing the same thing again. If you play alone though, then it gets boring fast.
??????? ????? ™
September 27, 2016 at 12:08
I read Winamp is re-releasing
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 10:49
Ubisoft are a bunch of sellouts making mediocre games at best and solely relying on one IP in particular. Let us not even talk about the underhanded dealing with Sony and the whole Watch_Dogs debacle. I for one will give the unpopular opinion that a buyout from Vivendi can only make things better.
I hope they win the takeover.
geel slang
September 27, 2016 at 13:41
Sellouts? all businesses have only one goal, to make money.
Archdruid Kromas
September 27, 2016 at 14:12
But but most of them have not been caught with their hands in the honeypot. Ubisoft has. Not sure if I should blame them or Sony but I generally stay away from both.
HvR
September 27, 2016 at 11:12
Make it so that shares can only be bought if you sign into Uplay…. hostile takeover blocked.
??????? ????? ™
September 27, 2016 at 11:31
Good on them!