Ubisoft's shareholders are looking for a way to buy out the company without reducing the influence and control of the Guillemot family, the founders of the French studio. According to anonymous sources, one of the plans with Tencent is already ready, Reuters reports.
Reports that the Guillemot family wants to buy out Ubisoft first appeared in early October 2024. At that time, the Chinese company Tencent was also involved in this situation, wanting to prevent a hostile takeover of the French studio by other investors.
According to the sources, Tencent is still deciding whether to help Ubisoft, as the Chinese company wants to have more influence on future decisions of the board of directors, which the Guillemot family does not agree to. At the same time, the sources say that Tencent is simply being patient and waiting for the studio's founding family to agree to the terms.
Tencent declined to comment, and Guillemot's family did not respond to the request at all. As for Ubisoft representatives, they said that the studio "remains committed to making decisions in the best interests of all of our stakeholders."
According to the latest annual report, the Guillemot family owns 20.5% of the voting shares, while Tencent has only 9.2%. It is likely that the Chinese company is looking to increase its share, but this contradicts the founding family's plan to maintain control over the studio.