Tencent, Guillemot Family Reportedly Considering Ubisoft Buyout

European publisher Ubisoft is apparently being weighed for a joint buyout between Chinese conglomerate Tencent and the founding Guillemot family.

This news comes via a report from Bloomberg, with sources "familiar with the matter". Ubisoft has lost over half its market value in 2024, resulting in various options being considered for the future of the company.

According to the report, one such option is Tencent and holding company Guillemot Brothers Ltd jointly purchasing the publisher and making it a private entity.

As of April 2024, Tencent holds a 9.2% stake in the company, while the Guillemot family holds about 20.5%.

Discussions about this potential sale and other options are reportedly at an early stage, so we may not see any movement on the matter for some time yet.

Indeed, 2024 has been a tough year for Ubisoft, with software performing below sales expectations and thus pushing down its share value. One investor has been pushing for the privatisation of Ubisoft, and even the replacement of CEO Yves Guillemot.

With Assassin's Creed Shadows delayed, XDefiant underperforming, and Star Wars Outlaws also struggling to sell, it's fair to say Ubisoft has had a rough time lately.

It's a sorry state of affairs. You have to imagine that, if Ubisoft is bought out, it'll also go through a round of redundancies as the new owners try to untangle its messy structure. That's purely speculative from us, but we can't see Ubisoft's road getting any smoother for a while.

What do you make of all this? Is the sale and privatisation of Ubisoft the best call? Discuss in the comments section below.

[source bloomberg.com, via x.com]