Ubisoft’s share price skyrocketed today amid intensifying rumors that Chinese megacorp Tencent is engaged in buyout talks.
The company behind Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six Siege has suffered a torrid year, with multiple studio closures, mass layoffs, and game shutdowns. The company’s next big game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, was delayed into 2025, and Star Wars Outlaws failed to meet sales expectations.
According to Reuters, Ubisoft shareholders are “considering” how to structure a possible buyout of the French company without reducing the founding Guillemot family’s control. The Guillemot family is the largest shareholder in Ubisoft and is reportedly in talks with Tencent and “other investors” as it seeks funding a management buyout. Tencent is the second-largest shareholder in Ubisoft with 10% and, according to Reuters, has yet to decide whether to fund the buyout.
Reuters said Tencent’s indecision is “partly because it has asked for a greater say on future board decisions including cash flow distribution in return for financing the deal.” Apparently the Guillemot family has yet to agree to those terms, but Tencent is willing to wait for them to come around.
Tencent declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, with a Guillemot family rep failing to respond. But a Ubisoft spokesperson did comment, saying: "We remain committed to making decisions in the best interests of all of our stakeholders. In this context, as we have already indicated, the Company is also reviewing all its strategic options."
Ubisoft’s shares fell to their lowest level in the last decade in September after it made a series of dramatic announcements around the performance of its games. As well as delaying Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft announced a return to Steam after a period of PC launch exclusivity on the Epic Games Store, with Star Wars Outlaws recently releasing on Valve’s platform.
This latest news comes hot on the heels of Ubisoft's announcement that it plans to shut down Call of Duty competitor XDefiant and its production studios in San Francisco and Osaka while ramping down its site in Sydney, with up to 277 employees losing their jobs. Roughly half of the XDefiant team will be assigned roles elsewhere.
Shares in Ubisoft are up 12.52% today, December 6, following the Tencent buyout reports.
Why would you leave in charge someone who burned down their own company?
If Tencent is smart (and I'm not a huge fan of thiers) they'd give them a role that's basically a fancy title with no actual power. Tencent is in the position of power here with how poorly Ubi has been doing.