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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Ubisoft CEO Warns of Dangers of a Hostile Takeover by Vivendi

 

Do you think Vivendi will acquire Ubisoft some day?

Yes 43 62.32%
 
No 20 28.99%
 
See results 6 8.70%
 
Total:69
KLXVER on 01 May 2016

What creativity? Michel Ancel is probably their only true creative mind.



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naruball on 01 May 2016
Retro_Gam3r said:
I hate Ubiplay, Ubisoft and the fact that killed the Heroes of Might and Magic Series so I couldnt care less to be honest.

Wait, what? Elaborate, please?



Teeqoz on 01 May 2016
Ka-pi96 said:
Teeqoz said:

Ahh sorry.

I'll try to go a little bit more indepth (though I by now means have extensive knowledge of this).

I don't think Ubisoft can actually mount a takeover defence by buying their own shares. The reason this works in the movies is because it's not the company itself owning that 51%, but the private person (or at least a 3rd party shareholder). What Ubisoft are trying to do now is to get enough shareholders (>50%)  to "agree" on not selling their stake and not agreeing to a potential takeover bid.

If they were to do that wouldn't it just decrease the number of shares in circulation, effectively increasing Vivendi's percentage and making their job easier for them?

So if it has to be a private person like you said to do it that way then Guillemot would effectively have to buy the shares personally right?

You are correct on both accounts, but it doesn't have to be a private person, it just has to be (at least one) third party entity. Like the government if Canada or whatever. Multiple third party entities can co-operate in the buy-out defense too, which is what Ubisoft is trying to organiza.



Teeqoz on 01 May 2016
Ka-pi96 said:
thismeintiel said:
I think hostile takeovers should be illegal. Like a company can only own a set percentage of stock in another company, which includes individuals working in the buying company. It's ridiculous that a company can force another to be sold to it.

heh, you think making an offer to the shareholders who each get to choose whether to accept or reject it should be illegal? Nobody is forcing anybody to sell anything. If Ubisoft management don't own enough of the shares to guarantee that they retain ownership of the company then the only people they can blame is themselves for selling so many shares to the public in the first place.

Well, if they get majority board approval they can force the rest to sell their shares (though at a premium price". So you can be forced to sell your shares against your will.



QUAKECore89 on 01 May 2016

How may I help you Ubisoft?



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Mr.GameCrazy on 01 May 2016

Who's Vivendi? Never heard of them before.



Frogger on 01 May 2016

This has been really exciting to watch, entertainment-wise. It's like an episode of suits.

Also, lol at "killing creativity" when 90% of Ubisoft's games over the past decade have been carbon copies of the AssCreed formula.



DivinePaladin on 01 May 2016
Ballas said:
JEMC said:

That already happened with AC and we get a Far Cry game every two years (FC Primal_2016, FC4_2014, FC3_2012).

Ubisoft doesn't need help to milk their own franchises.

They are not doing it any more with AC and one game every two years is fine.

Not doing it once doesn't mean it won't happen again. They're taking a year off 100% because they have the movie to capitalize on and because AC can't take another broken launch for the series and risk tanking the whole thing into the dirt. I'm fairly certain, knowing Ubi, there will be a 2018 AC, a 2019 AC, and so on. 



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Darwinianevolution on 01 May 2016

Wait, if I recall Vivendi has a really big share of Activision-Blizzard. If they managed to buy Ubisoft too, wouldn't that mean they would become the strongest company on the western gaming industry?



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SuperNova on 01 May 2016
Teeqoz said:
SuperNova said:

Well, I did say I wasn't sure how this works, so no need to be condescending right?  (I apologize if sounding condesending was not your intent, but that's how it came off to me.)

I was looking for actual information there though, so how about you explain to me me why exactly it will be difficult to do instead? Because if my company was facing a hostile takeover I'd be moving heaven and hell to prevent it.

Ahh sorry.

I'll try to go a little bit more indepth (though I by now means have extensive knowledge of this).

I don't think Ubisoft can actually mount a takeover defence by buying their own shares. The reason this works in the movies is because it's not the company itself owning that 51%, but the private person (or at least a 3rd party shareholder). What Ubisoft are trying to do now is to get enough shareholders (>50%)  to "agree" on not selling their stake and not agreeing to a potential takeover bid.

Ah! Ok, thanks for explaining!

So that's why they are trying to woo even the canadian government. I guess the reason roughly 30% would be enough for Vivendi  to take over Ubi is that they would be the single biggest shareholder then and able to strongarm their decisions through?

That is unless the rest of the shareholders close rank.