InVincible

21 June 2016 By Fiona Maharg-Bravo

Vivendi, controlled by the French tycoon, owns over 20 pct of the video game maker and wants board seats. That tactic worked at struggling Telecom Italia, but Ubisoft is a different proposition whose founding family won’t go down without a fight. Minorities shouldn’t either.

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Vivendi, the French media group, on June 20 said it had over 95 percent of video games maker Gameloft after a public tender offer ended on June 15. Vivendi succeeded in taking control of Gameloft through an unsolicited bid. The Guillemot family, which founded Gameloft and held more than 20 percent of the company in April, reluctantly tendered its stake in early June after Vivendi had acquired more than 60 percent of Gameloft’s shares.

Vivendi said on June 17 it had raised its stake in video games maker Ubisoft above 20 percent. The founding Guillemot family owns about 10 percent of Ubisoft and has so far not cooperated with Vivendi. The media giant holds 20.10 percent of Ubisoft and 17.76 percent of its voting rights, it said in a statement. The company said it was not considering launching a public tender offer for Ubisoft but might buy more shares.

The media group said it was “hoping to build a fruitful cooperation with Ubisoft” and reiterated that it might ask for representation on Ubisoft’s board. Ubisoft Chief Executive Yves Guillemot has said he plans to keep the company independent.

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