Ubisoft has some choice words for Vivendi after latest share acquisition
Ubisoft, publisher of Assassin’s Creed and The Division, has made an unusually pointed statement criticizing what it calls Vivendi’s “creeping control” strategy of buying outstanding Ubisoft shares in small bits.
Ubisoft’s statement was released yesterday via an email – here is the full text, courtesy of GameInformer:
“We are not at all surprised by this latest statement from Vivendi, nor by the intent behind it.
This is a confirmation of their habitual strategy of creeping control, in which they say they have no intention to take control of Ubisoft while steadily increasing their stake and preparing an offensive at the next Annual Shareholders Meeting.
This strategy of successively announcing conflicting intentions is contrary to good corporate practices and is not in the best interests of Ubisoft’s other shareholders.
Moreover, despite our repeated written requests since they first entered into our capital, Vivendi has never presented any details or convincing plan on how this supposed cooperation would take place.
[Our] management remains committed to preserving the independence of the company, which is the condition for the long-term value creation that will benefit all of our shareholders.”
For its part, Vivendi denies that it is planning any kind of hostile takeover. Although this latest purchase brings Vivendi’s control to 17.73 percent of capital and 15.66 percent of voting shares, Vivendi insists it has “no plans” to take over Ubisoft, and is committed to “preserving the independence of the company.” However, Vivendi’s recent track record does provide cause to wonder at its intentions, as it made a move to take over Gameloft, a mobile gaming company founded by the same family as Ubisoft.
Ubisoft has made some moves of their own of late to counter Vivendi’s maneuvers – most notably, approaching the Canadian government as an investor to “fight to preserve [its] independence.”