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Ubisoft Buying More Stock To Hold Off Vivendi Takeover
Ubisoft has agreed to buy back 3.2 percent of its own stock from a French investment bank. The move comes as the publisher continues to face the threat of a possible hostile takeover from Vivendi, which at last report controlled 17.76 percent of Ubisoft's voting shares.
Under the deal with Bpifrance, Ubisoft will buy back all 3,625,178 of the bank's shares at 33.80 euro each, or about $38.04. The total transaction, which amounts to approximately $137,851,700, will be officially completed in November.
"We want to express our warm gratitude to Bpifrance for its support during all these years," said Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft co-founder and CEO.
Vivendi is in the process of trying to gain more control of Ubisoft through the acquisition of stock. Ubisoft's most recent buyback is clearly an attempt to minimize that influence. It's likely to come to a head during a meeting that's scheduled this week on September 29. There, the distribution of board seats will be in discussion.
For a deeper rundown of the history of the current conflict, as well as an explanation of what exactly is happening, take a look at our in-depth feature on the subject.
[Source: VentureBeat]
Our Take
Ubisoft has been vocally opposed to Vivendi's advances, and this latest maneuver reinforces the company's desire to remain independent from Vivendi. Regardless of what you think of each company's position, things are going to be getting interesting within a few days.
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