Reuters reports that Tencent Holdings wants to raise its stake in Ubisoft Entertainment.
The Chinese company bought a 5% stake in Ubisoft in 2018. They have reached out to the Guillemot family, Ubisoft’s founders and majority owners, who expressed interest in raising their stake in Ubisoft.
The Reuters article states that Ubisoft is valued at $5.3 billion. According to a Reuters source, Tencent may offer up to 100 euros ($101.84) per share. This is in comparison to the 66 euros per share they paid in 2018 for a 5% stake in the company. “Tencent is very determined to nail down the deal as Ubisoft is such an important strategic asset for Tencent,” the source said.
80% of Ubisoft’s shares belong to public shareholders. Tencent is reportedly looking to acquire Shares from those public shareholders if need be.
Should Tencent successfully buy more shares of Ubisoft, it would be the latest in a recent trend of major companies acquiring game studios. The past 12 or so months have been a whirlwind of activity. Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard in January for $70 billion. Sony acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion in January as well. The Embracer Group acquired Eidos and Crystal Dynamics in May.
Ubisoft’s biggest franchise is undoubtedly Assassin’s Creed. We recently ranked every game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, so be sure to give it a read!
