Vivendi’s strong attempt to wrest control of Ubisoft in a hostile takeover has been going on for a while now. Though Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has bought more shares to avoid such a situation, he may not have to worry about it after all. Well, not for the next six months at least.
That’s because Vivendi stated in its Q3 fiscal year 2017 report that its investments in games were generating value (Gameloft in particular was touted as the world leader in mobile games download). It noted that the unrealized capital gain on Ubisoft investment exceeded €1 billion but said that within the next six months, “it does not intend to file a public tender offer for Ubisoft shares nor to acquire control of the company. To this end, Vivendi will ensure that its interest in Ubisoft will not exceed the threshold of 30% through the doubling of its voting rights.”
Vivendi also said that with all the opposition from Ubisoft’s management, it will not look to represent on the company’s board of directors either. While this doesn’t mean Vivendi has completely given up its pursuit of Ubisoft, the Paris-based publisher can rest easy for the time being.