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A new report claims private equity firms are eyeing up an acquisition of Ubisoft.
As reported by Bloomberg (opens in new tab), talks are being held about the potential of several private equity firms acquiring Ubisoft. Talks are apparently early on, but include private equity firms like Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co., and several current and former Ubisoft developers told Kotaku (opens in new tab) they believe the company will eventually be sold.
This is, according to the developers Kotaku spoke to, due to the flagging stock price of Ubisoft over the last year or so. Additionally, Kotaku reports that Ubisoft has been auditing various parts of its business with several outside consultancy firms, and while this is standard practice for any business, Kotaku sources claim this is in preparation for an acquisition.
When asked about a potential acquisition as recently as February 2022, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that the company “can remain independent,” but would consider acquisition offers. Guillemot indicated that no acquisition offer for Ubisoft had been made at the time, adding that “we will not speculate on why people haven’t made an offer.”
This all comes on the heels of major consolidation around the games industry over the past two years. The entire thing kicked off with Microsoft’s blockbuster acquisition of Bethesda. Microsoft then acquired Activision Blizzard earlier this year, although the deal has yet to be reviewed and given the green light by the U.S. government. Shortly after that, Sony acquired Bungie, having previously purchased a number of smaller studios with which it had ongoing relationships. With all these major deals happening, it’s no surprise Ubisoft – one of the last major development outlets without a significant first-party attachment – has been the subject of acquisition rumors and reports.
Here’s what Microsoft’s latest acquisition could mean for Activision Blizzard and Xbox Game Studios.
