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Tencent and the Ubisoft founders the Guillemot family are reportedly mulling over building a new venture. According to people familiar with the situation, the new entity would include certain assets from the French gaming company in order to boost the its value.
Tencent and Guillemot family look to boost Ubisoft’s value with new venture
A new report from Bloomberg claims Chinese tech company Tencent, and the Guillemot family are currently figuring out which assets to transfer over to the new entity. This deal would give Tencent a stake in the venture, and give control to some of Ubisoft’s IPs.
According to Ubisoft’s last annual report, Tencent and the Guillemot family own 25.4% of Ubisoft’s share capital, and 29.6% of the voting rights. While shares have raised recently, Ubisoft’s stocks have not been doing to hot in the past year. In the past year, it has gone down over 44%.
The report claims no final decisions have been made, and Tencent declined to comment. However, a Ubisoft spokesperson referenced the recent statement the company made about potentially exploring a sale of the company.
“We have taken decisive steps to reshape the Group in order to deliver best-in-class player experiences, enhance operational efficiency and maximize value creation,” said Ubisoft co-founder Yves Guillemot in the January 9 statement. “We also recently appointed leading advisors and are actively exploring various strategic and capitalistic options to unlock the full value potential of our assets. We are convinced that there are several potential paths to generate value from Ubisoft’s assets and franchises.”
Ubisoft seems to have been under pressure for the past year. Its tumultuous Star Wars Outlaws release, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows feedback have caused the company to reevaluate its release strategy, and delay the former to March 20, 2025. The company had also shuttered several studios, including Ubisoft San Francisco. They also disbanded the team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown despite its critical success.
A report by Reuters from last December claimed Tencent and Ubisoft were in talks for a potential purchase. It seems these talks have turned into a joint venture of the two companies.