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Report: Vivendi Takes Major Step Toward Gameloft Takeover
Vivendi has won the support of a majority of Gameloft shareholders in a hostile bid to take over the company, Bloomberg reports. This likely gives Vivendi enough leverage to progress with its acquisition.
Last week, one of Gameloft's larger shareholder groups, Amber Capital, offered support to French company Vivendi. Now, with even further stock offers and owning nearly 30 percent of Gameloft, Vivendi is closing in with its takeover.
Former Activision owner Vivendi has long set its sights on not just the French mobile game developer Gameloft, but also Assassin's Creed publisher Ubisoft, which was also founded by the Guillemot family. Vivendi has tightened its grip on the French video game giant since October when it began buying its shares, all while Ubisoft deemed Vivendi's actions as "unsolicited and unwelcome." Ubisoft has put up its defenses, by seeking new investment from both provincial and national governments in Canada, in an attempt to preserve independence from Vivendi.
In 2013, Activision bought independence from Vivendi for $8 billion. Now, with another $850 million from selling shares in 2014, Vivendi reportedly is worth around $10 billion, giving the company a powerful advantage. In comparison, Ubisoft has had a prosperous fiscal year, and with high profits from successful games like The Division, it may be able to withstand and deflect Vivendi's attacks.
We've reached out to Gameloft for further comment, and we will update this article accordingly should we hear back.
[Source: Bloomberg]
Our Take
There's no official word from Gameloft yet, but situations like these could result in a shakeup at the executive level. Gameloft could see a vast change in direction should they come under new ownership if this acquisition becomes solidified. With Vivendi's history, it's very possible that Gameloft is just another stepping stone towards their seemingly larger goal of taking over Ubisoft.
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