2022 is already a huge year given the number of announced acquisitions in the video game space. The biggest, of course, are Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard ($68.9 billion) and Sony’s Bungie ($3.6 billion), but another player would soon make the list, and that’s none other than Ubisoft.
Ubisoft, a mean fish with golden licenses
Ubisoft Entertainment SA, the video game publisher behind the Assassin’s Creed franchise, is attracting preliminary interest from mutual funds, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
According to the newspaper, several private equity firms, including Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co., have been investigating the French company. The same sources point out that Ubisoft hasn’t started serious negotiations with potential buyers so far and it’s unclear if its major shareholder is ready for a deal.
Yves Guillemot’s family currently own 15% of the company but consultations are still at an early stage and there is no certainty that any of the suitors will make an offer, the sources said. On the stock exchange, Ubisoft shares fell from €84.60 in January 2021 to below €51 a year later. A 40% drop in value in just one year, bringing the stock price back to where it was in March 2017 today. Today, Ubisoft’s market capitalization is around 4.8 billion euros.
According to Kotaku sources, Ubisoft has been working closely with several outside consulting firms over the past few years to audit various parts of its business. But while companies typically do this to become more profitable and prepare for the future, the sources Kotaku spoke to suggest this is a sign that Ubisoft is trying to clean up for a possible sale.
Ubisoft has fallen victim to other groups before, but as we saw with Vivendi’s unsuccessful attempt, the Guillemot family has always been adamant about selling the store. Since then, however, the situation seems very different and last February, Yves Guillemot said that he would consider any offer on the table, even if Ubisoft could remain independent.
Kotaku sources believe Ubisoft is now poised to take over for several reasons:
- Charlie Guillemot left both his post at Ubisoft and the company last year, meaning there are no descendants left to take over the family business.
- Ubisoft has been hit by an ongoing wave of departures among its top-tier talent. The video game market is expanding and recruiting for key positions is in high demand.
- The company continues to fight the consequences of sexual harassment cases that have been in the press since summer 2020.
- Some of its biggest projects continue to face upheaval, delays, or are stuck in development hell. The best example is certainly Beyond Good and Evil 2, which has been formalized for 14 years.
As Bloomberg reported in February, Ubisoft has decided to turn one of the planned Assassin’s Creed Valhalla DLCs into a standalone game (Assassin’s Creed Rift) planned for this standalone game, currently to fill gaps in its release schedule over the next few 18 months. According to three Kotaku sources, the upcoming games Far Cry, Ghost Recon and Assassin’s Creed will be released a little later than Ubisoft initially expected.
