Just days after the announcement that Ubisoft’s free-to-play FPS XDefiant is shutting down, it’s been reported that the company being bought out is still a possibility, but sources claim that it’s in talks about how a potential buyout could be structured in a way that wouldn’t reduce the founding Guillemot family’s control.
Back in October, it was claimed that Tencent and Ubisoft had been in talks about how to both boost the value of the Assassin’s Creed developer and help stabilize it, with one of the options brought up apparently being to team up and take the company private. Shortly after, Ubisoft put out a statement (via VGC) to acknowledge “recent press speculation regarding potential interests around the Company,” and said that it “regularly reviews all its strategic options in the interest of stakeholders and will inform the market if and when appropriate.” So… it wasn’t going to confirm anything either way.
Now, though, two anonymous individuals familiar with the matter have claimed that the Guillemot family have been in talks with both Tencent and other investors “about funding a management-led buyout,” according to a new report from Reuters. The founding family reportedly wants to maintain its control over Ubisoft, and Tencent apparently hasn’t yet decided whether it wants to increase its stake in the company or not since, it’s claimed, that it wants more of a say on board decisions going forward. On top of that, it’s reported that Tencent thinks the percentage of direct holding of Ubisoft it already has is enough when it comes to upholding its cooperation.
It sounds like there’s a lot to consider – apparently, the discussions are still ongoing. However, the reports from October about the companies apparently wanting to stabilize Ubisoft seem more relevant than ever after the announcement of XDefiant’s shutdown, which will see the game unplayable barely a year after its original launch. The company is also shutting down its San Francisco and Osaka studios, in a move that will affect up to 177 developers.
Take a look at our list of upcoming Ubisoft games to see everything the Assassin’s Creed developer is working on.
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