Ubisoft’s share price rose markedly on Friday amid rising speculation that Assassin’s Creed and the Far Cry company might be considering a sale. To be clear: It’s still very early days, it seems, and there have been no formal bids, nor have any potential negotiations begun, according to a report.
Bloomberg reported that private equity firms Blackstone and KKR have “studied” Ubisoft, though the site said there have been no “serious negotiations” yet.
“Considerations are at an early stage and there is no guarantee that any of the suitors will continue with offers,” Bloomberg reported. Spokesmen for Blackstone and KKR declined to comment to Bloomberg, while an Ubisoft representative also had no comment on a potential takeover.
“We do not comment on rumors or speculation,” a spokesman told GameSpot. “Ubisoft has unmatched creativity and production capacity with more than 20,000 talented people collaborating across our global game development studies. Thanks to them and our long-term approach and appetite for taking creative risks, we have built some of the industry’s most powerful proprietary products. brands and has many promising new brands and projects on the horizon. “
“We also have one of the industry’s deepest and most diversified portfolios, cutting-edge services and technologies and a large and growing community of committed players. As a result, we are ideally positioned to take advantage of the rapid industry growth and platform opportunities that are emerging right now. . “
KKR has taken steps in the gaming world before, as it was among the $ 1.25 billion investment in Epic Games back in 2018. Blackstone does not appear to have any public video game investment. The company is mainly known for its real estate investments. In 2021, Blackstone bought Spanx.
Ubisoft’s share price rose more than 15% on Friday, with investors and analysts apparently reacting positively to the potential for Ubisoft to be acquired, or at least for private investment firms to be interested in some capacity. The family of Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot is Ubisoft’s largest investor with a 15% stake in the company.
In February, Guillemot said Ubisoft does not want to sell and feels confident about its financial position and sees the value of its many franchises. That said, Guillemot said Ubisoft and its board would receive an offer to be acquired.
Ubisoft celebrated an independence victory in 2017 as it successfully battled a “creeping control” bid from Vivendi, which later sold its stake in the company.