Tencent Buys Stake in Holding Behind Assassin's Creed Maker Ubisoft
September 06 2022 - 1:23PM
Dow Jones News
By Mauro Orru
Tencent Holdings Ltd. acquired a minority stake in the family
holding that controls the maker of the Assassin's Creed videogame
series Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a vote of confidence in a
fast-growing sector as companies race to build immersive game
experiences powered by the metaverse.
Ubisoft said Tuesday that Tencent had bought a 49.9% stake in
Guillemot Brothers Limited, the holding company of the Guillemot
family that founded Ubisoft in 1986. The Chinese social-media and
videogame giant is investing 300 million euros ($298 million) in
the holding, including EUR200 million on the share acquisition and
EUR100 million on a capital increase.
Ubisoft's board of directors also gave Tencent the green light
to raise its direct stake in Ubisoft to 9.99% from 4.5%.
"We are excited to expand our engagement with the founders, the
Guillemot family, as Ubisoft continues to develop immersive game
experiences, and to bring some of Ubisoft's most well-known AAA
franchises to mobile," Tencent President Martin Lau said.
Companies are jockeying for position in the metaverse--a virtual
world in which users can play, work and shop across different
platforms using digital avatars--since technology majors aiming to
build the new virtual ecosystem are expected to first have to
master all aspects of videogaming.
Many of the technologies that are set to power the metaverse,
from artificial intelligence to blockchain, cloud computing, and
virtual reality, "are currently being experimented with and
mastered by videogame companies like Ubisoft," Ubisoft Chief
Executive Yves Guillemot told The Wall Street Journal in
February.
Tencent is providing a long-term unsecured loan to Guillemot
Brothers Limited to refinance its debt and inject additional funds
that could be used to acquire Ubisoft equity.
Still, the Guillemot family will retain control of Guillemot
Brothers Limited as Tencent won't be represented on its board of
directors, nor will it obtain consent or veto rights over the
business.
Ubisoft has been watching from the sidelines as rivals have
engaged in a flurry of deal-making this year. Mr. Guillemot said
Ubisoft is able to remain independent, citing its financial
strength and game portfolio. Aside from Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft's
stable also includes the Just Dance, Tom Clancy's, Far Cry, For
Honor, and Watch Dogs franchises.
"The expansion of the concert with Tencent further reinforces
Ubisoft's core shareholding around its founders and provides the
company with the stability essential for its long-term
development," Mr. Guillemot said.
Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com; @MauroOrru94
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 06, 2022 13:08 ET (17:08 GMT)
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