Stephen Totilo, a reporter for Axios, said that the rumors that Tencent wants to buy the French developer and publisher Ubisoft are not true.
Tencent is very interested in Ubisoft, but it won’t buy the company. Instead, the Chinese company will put a lot of money into Ubisoft instead. Tencent now owns 49.9% of Guillemot Bros, which is the company run by Ubisoft’s co-founders and has the biggest stake in Ubisoft. Tencent put in about €300 million, but they won’t get seats on the board.
Stephen Totilo clarifies
Tencent does NOT plan to buy Ubisoft. But it is putting a lot of money into the company. It just announced a new €300 million ($300 million) investment, which gives it a 49.9% stake in Guillemot Bros, the company run by Ubisoft’s co-founders and which owns the most of Ubisoft.
Tencent won’t have a seat on the boards of either company, but it can increase its stake in Ubisoft to 9.99% and can’t sell its stock for five years. Also, giving Great Britain a loan to pay off its debts.
Tencent will bring “several” AAA games from Ubisoft to mobile devices and PCs in China.
Guillemot Bros. can now own 29.9% of Ubisoft. When combined with Tencent’s agreed-upon ceiling, the two groups could own most of Ubisoft’s stock. The Guillemot family and Tencent would still control the board, as far as I can tell, but they wouldn’t have any veto power.
