French video game manufacturer Ubisoft holds its annual press conference in Saint-Mande, near Paris
Ubisoft jumped Friday afternoon on the Paris Stock Exchange after Bloomberg News reported that Tencent and the Guillemot family were studying several scenarios for the video game publisher, including a buyout or a delisting.
China’s Tencent and the founding brothers of the French group, who respectively hold 9.74% and 15.05% of the capital according to LSEG data, spoke with advisors to explore ways to stabilize Ubisoft and increase its value, the news agency reported, citing sources who requested anonymity.
The two entities could also join forces to delist Ubisoft, Bloomberg added.
For Charles-Louis Planade, analyst at Midcap Partners, such news would not be surprising, Ubisoft being “a clearly unique asset in the sector”.
“Big players have tried to penetrate the ‘open world’ action/adventure genre that Ubisoft has mastered to perfection. We are thinking in particular of Google with Stadia, of EA, of all these players who, today, are banging their heads against the wall in this segment which remains one of the most lucrative”, he added.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, Ubisoft shares rose 30.75% to 13.91 euros at 2:27 p.m. GMT.
In difficulty, the company has lost 39.8% since the start of the year.
Contacted by Reuters, Ubisoft declined to comment.
(Written by Kate Entringer, with Florence Loève and Leo Marchandon, edited by Blandine Hénault)
