“Several Private Equity Firms Reportedly Considering Acquisition of Ubisoft”

Ubisoft could be the next company in an ongoing acquisition process across the industry, with Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, Sony acquiring Bungie, and Take-Two acquiring mobile giant Zynga.

This is because Bloomberg reports that several private equity firms, including Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co., are researching French businesses and have potential acquisitions in mind. Nevertheless, Ubisoft is said to have not entered into any serious negotiations or negotiation process with these potential buyers, and Bloomberg sources say it is unclear whether Ubisoft’s major shareholders are willing to make such a deal in the first place.

Its major shareholder is Ubisoft Chairman Yves Guillemot, who owns a 15% stake in the publisher of Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. Over the past year, Ubisoft’s share price has fallen about 41%, bringing its overall market value to about $5.2 billion. Bloomberg said the source “deliberation is in its infancy and we are not sure if any of the suitors will go ahead with the proposal.”

Ubisoft has built a strong portfolio in Bloomberg and said it is in a position to “take advantage of new opportunities amid the industry’s rapid growth,” but declined to comment specifically on the acquisition. As reported by the Video Games Chronicle, Ubisoft’s share price rose 11% after news broke of this potential acquisition interest.

Ubisoft could try to defend against potential acquisitions, as it did in 2018 when it avoided the Vivendi acquisition. It remains to be seen whether Ubisoft wants to take over or is prepared to prevent such purchases.

When Ubisoft is acquired this year, it joins another line of purchases that have so far defined gaming in 2022 in a big way. Started by Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of the Grand Theft Auto series, announced last January it would acquire mobile giant Zynga for nearly $13 billion. Then, a week later, Microsoft announced that it would acquire Activision Blizzard, the company behind Overwatch and Call of Duty, for $68.7 billion, and two weeks later Sony announced it would acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion. A few weeks later, Sony announced that it had also acquired Haven, Jade Raymond’s new studio.