Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
Reports are coming in that French outfit Ubisoft could be the next big gaming publisher in line for a takeover.
Bloomberg cites anonymous sources “with knowledge of the matter” claiming that several private equity firms have been studying the company. These are said to include Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. – who are two of the largest private equity firms in the world. However, Ubisoft apparently hasn’t entered any serious talks with them just yet.
Adding to these reports, Kotaku has also spoken with several senior current and former members of staff. According to them, they believe even if these equity firms don’t bite Ubisoft will still eventually sell. The reasons apparently include a “flagging stock price and ongoing production struggles”.
Ubisoft has so far declined to comment on this speculation in a statement to Kotaku. It did say “Ubisoft has unmatched creative and production capacities, with more than 20,000 talented people collaborating across our global studios on game development. Thanks to them and to our long-term approach and appetite for taking creative risks, we have built some of the industry’s strongest proprietary brands and have many promising new brands and projects on the horizon.”
The report did see the company’s stock price raise since it was published. As per GamesIndustry.biz, the Assassin’s Creed maker’s stock sat at a low of €33.97 on Friday. However, since the report, it was up 13% to €38.25 over the weekend, & further still to €40.61 this morning. That’s an increase of nearly 20% since the report.
It’s been quite the busy year already for takeovers. Microsoft announced it was buying Activision for $68.7 billion back in January. Sony meanwhile picked up Bungie a couple of weeks later for $3.6 billion, while Take Two also purchased mobile giant Zynga for $12.7 billion USD.