Ubisoft reportedly looking to sell after string of controversies and game delays

A few years ago, Ubisoft was under threat of hostile takeover, as Vivendi began buying up shares in the company. At the time, Ubisoft fought back to maintain its independence, but after a string of major project delays and work culture controversy, it looks like Ubisoft may finally be ready to sell. 

A number of companies are currently interested in acquiring Ubisoft this year. No major gaming publisher is attached to an acquisition offer at this time, instead, Ubisoft is drawing interest from private investment and equity firms, including Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co, as reported by Bloomberg.

These are the two biggest private equity firms in the world and reportedly have “preliminary takeover interest” in Ubisoft. Kotaku added to the story, with sources claiming that Ubisoft has been working with consulting firms this year with the goal of clearing up its business in order to become more attractive for potential buyers.

Of course, any buyout of Ubisoft would hinge on the Guillemot family agreeing, as well as regulatory checks and approvals. Currently, the Guillemot family owns 15% of Ubisoft. Currently, Ubisoft has a $5 billion USD market cap, although share prices have dropped quite dramatically over the last four years, going from $110 per share to just $41 per share.

Interestingly, the current trend of industry consolidation also began back in 2018, just as Ubisoft's downward spiral began. Things kicked off with Microsoft buying a number of new studios, and upping the ante over the years by acquiring Bethesda and making a huge offer for Activision Blizzard. Sony has also been on an acquisition spree lately, picking up Bungie, Bluepoint Games, Nixxes and more.

Ubisoft has been working closely with major tech companies like Google and Amazon to push cloud gaming. However, with Google opting out of game development, it is unlikely that we'll see them make an offer for Ubisoft to bolster Stadia. Other major tech companies could look to make an offer though, as could other rival game publishers and platform holders.

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KitGuru Says: Now that the word is out, we can expect a few more companies to show interest in acquiring Ubisoft, although any official talks will be under strict NDAs. With that in mind, don't expect too many leaks to come out of this situation. 

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