Vivendi has agreed to sell its entire stake in Ubisoft, ridding itself of 27.3%, or 30,489,300 shares, of Ubisoft’s share capital.
As part of the transaction, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OPPP) and Tencent will enter Ubisoft’s share capital as long-term investors. The OPPP has acquires 3,787,878 total Ubisoft shares, or 3.4% of its share capital. Tencent has acquired 5,591,469 Ubisoft shares, or 5.0% of its share capital. Additional shares have been acquired by Ubisoft itself (9,090,909 shares; 8.1% of capital), Guillemot Brothers SE (3,030,303 shares; 2.7% of capital) and an Accelerated Bookbuilding with institutional investors (8,988,741 shares; 8.0% of capital).
Additionally as part of the transaction, Tencent and Ubisoft has also signed a strategic partnership agreement “that will significantly accelerate the reach of Ubisoft franchises in China in the coming years,” the publisher advised in a statement. Tencent has “also undertaken not to transfer its shares nor to increase its share ownership and votings rights in Ubisoft.”
“The evolution in our shareholding is great news for Ubisoft,” said Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft CEO. “It was made possible thanks to the outstanding execution of our strategy and the decisive support of Ubisoft talents, players and shareholders. I would like to warmly thank them all. The investment from new long-term shareholders in Ubisoft demonstrates their trust in our future value creation potential, and Ubisoft’s share buy-back will be accretive to all shareholders. Finally, the new strategic partnership agreement we signed will enable Ubisoft to accelerate its development in China in the coming years and fully leverage a market with great potential.
“Today, Ubisoft is fully reaping the benefits of our long-term strategy and the successful transformation towards a more recurring and profitable business. Ubisoft is perfectly positioned to capture the numerous video game growth drivers in the coming years. We are focused more than ever on delivering on our strategic plan.”
Vivendi itself has agreed it will not acquire shares in Ubisoft for the next five years.
This is great news for Ubisoft, which has been fighting off a potential takeover by Vivendi for years now. Vivendi acquired more than 25% of Ubisoft’s share capital back in December 2016, though ruled out a hostile takeover in November of last year.
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