Tencent Invests $300 Million In Ubisoft, Hinting Towards International Expansion
Tencent and Ubisoft have announced a significant cooperation agreement. In a deal with the company’s founding family, Chinese digital giant Tencent is boosting its minority share in Ubisoft, valuing France’s largest video game developer at more than 10 billion euros amid an industry-wide wave of buyouts.
In a statement released Tuesday night, Tencent said it would purchase 49.9% of the shares owned by the founding Guillemot brothers via Guillemot Brothers Ltd. Tencent has been permitted to increase its direct ownership from 4.5% to 9.99%. At an anticipated price of 80 euros per share, the Chinese IT giant will pay 200 million euros ($198 million) for the claims and spend an additional 100 million euros.
According to Ubisoft, the collaboration with Tencent “covers the development of mobile titles from several of Ubisoft’s major franchises and the launch of several of Ubisoft’s PC titles in China.” The agreement leaves the French publisher’s governance untouched, and the Guillemot family has exclusive control of Guillemot Brothers Limited.
Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot praised the agreement saying:
Tencent is a key shareholder partner for many of the industry’s leaders, who have created some of the most outstanding video games. This transaction reinforces our ability to develop substantial value over the coming years.”
Tencent is providing Ubisoft with a “long-term unsecured loan” to refinance its debt. Additionally, it’ll be releasing several Ubisoft PC games in China and covering the development costs of its mobile titles. However, Ubisoft won’t be changing its own as part of the transaction. Earlier this year, Guillemot admitted that being acquired wasn’t possible so long as Ubisoft remained independent.
Tencent has been gradually making moves to have a more significant presence in western games, particularly triple-A game development. Last week, it and Sony increased their stakes in Elden Ring developer From Software. This shows that the company is ready to use its financial resources to consolidate its steps into the international market.
