After months of rumors about Tencent wanting to proceed with a buyout of Ubisoft, a new report from Reuters says the company’s shareholders are still discussing terms.
The Chinese conglomerate Tencent currently owns roughly a 10 per cent stake in Ubisoft but has not yet decided whether it wants to increase its stake and join the buyout proposal.
According to Reuters, Tencent has requested greater influence over future board decisions, including cash flow distribution to finance the buyout itself. One of the core issues is that the Guillemot family, the founders of Ubisoft, still wants to retain control of the company.
This has created a bit of a standstill, but discussions are ongoing between the two companies. Ubisoft is also looking to avoid any hostile takeovers from third parties. In 2018, Vivendi attempted a hostile takeover but was ultimately unsuccessful. Tencent declined to comment to Reuters, while a Ubisoft spokesperson said:
“We remain committed to making decisions in the best interests of all of our stakeholders. In this context, as we have already indicated, the company is also reviewing all its strategic options.”
Over the years the Guillemot family has staunchly maintained the position that it wants Ubisoft to remain independent, even with a buyout. That may be a problem, however, in the face of the various problems that have plagued the company.
In 2023, five employees were arrested as part of an investigation on sexual harassment allegations within Ubisoft. Culture has remained a major question within the company since. More recently, however, in September, the company’s share price dropped to its lowest point it’s been in 11 years – off of disappointing sales from the likes of Skull & Bones and Star Wars Outlaws, and a delay for Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Now, this week, Ubisoft has announced it’ll be closing XDefiant’s servers in 2025, and completely shuttering two studios in the process.
