Games publisher Ubisoft announces restructuring, billion-euro investment
In a bid to escape financial woes, French games giant Ubisoft said Thursday it was creating a new subsidiary around its most popular franchises such as "Assassin's Creed" in partnership with China's Tencent.
The new unit, valued at around four billion euros ($4.3 billion), will be 25-percent controlled by Tencent, which will stump up 1.16 billion euros of new investment in exchange.
Alongside "Assassin's Creed", the subsidiary will bring together "Far Cry" and "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six" -- among the most popular long-running names in Ubisoft's roster of game universes.
Ubisoft appears to be making the most of last week's successful launch of the latest "Assassin's Creed" instalment, "Shadows", on which much of its future was riding.
Conditions for the Tencent deal include a bar on the French company losing its majority in the subsidiary for its first two years.
Tencent cannot increase its stake for the next five years -- unless Ubisoft loses its majority in the mean time.
Chief executive Yves Guillemot called the step a "new chapter in (Ubisoft's) history".
Last year brought a string of woes for Ubisoft, with several disappointing releases for would-be blockbuster games and a slump in its stock price.
Spinning up the new subsidiary -- whose name has not yet been announced -- by the end of the year means the company is "crystallising the value of our assets, strengthening our balance sheet, and creating the best conditions for these franchises' long-term growth and success," Guillemot said.
The deal also sees Tencent assert its hold on Ubisoft more strongly after climbing aboard in 2022.
The Chinese firm holds almost 10 percent of the group's stock -- a threshold it is not allowed to cross before 2030 -- while the founding Guillemot family owns around 15 percent.
- Breaking the streak -
Earlier this year, Ubisoft had said that it was "actively exploring various strategic and capitalistic options".
Finance chief Frederick Duquet said Thursday that "we received many expressions of interest that turned into several non-binding offers for different options".
In the end, directors opted to create the subsidiary as this "allowed Ubisoft to maintain control of its key assets, with a view to creating very large brands worth multiple billions in the coming years," Duquet added.
Ubisoft plans to make further announcements on changes to the group at a later stage.
The company's market capitalisation stood at 1.7 billion euros by close of trading in Paris Thursday -- or less than half the valuation of the new subsidiary.
Teams working on the three major franchises will be brought together in the new France-based unit, especially Ubisoft's Montreal studios -- one of the largest in the company.
In total, the publisher employs around 18,000 people worldwide, 4,000 of them in France.
"Assassin's Creed Shadows" has pulled in three million players since its March 20 release, breaking a streak of disappointing launches for Ubisoft.
The group will nevertheless push ahead with a cost-cutting plan drawn up in early 2023, under which it has already closed studios outside France and shed 2,000 jobs.
Ubisoft's troubles reflect wider doldrums in the video games sector over the past two years.
kf/tgb/rmb
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU could approve Mercosur deal by summer, agriculture chief says
By Kate Abnett BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union could approve its planned trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur before summer, but it has not yet fixed a date to do so, EU agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen told Reuters on Thursday. "It could be before summer," Hansen said in an interview. EU nations still need to approve the deal, which was finalised in December but has faced opposition from members including France, which argues that the pact would hurt European farmers who face stricter norms and regulations than their South American peers. French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed their differences on the pact at a meeting in Paris on Thursday. Macron said the text could be improved with the insertion of mirror clauses. France has previously argued for the insertion of an emergency break clause to restrict imports if a sudden surge in imports destabilises certain EU markets. "This would indeed require that we go back to the table and reopen. I don't think that this would be helpful in this situation," Hansen said of the idea of resuming negotiations with Mercosur countries to add new safeguards to the deal. "I see from many different parts of the agriculture and food sector, they are really looking for having these new opportunities," he added.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Approval of BWGI Tender Offer for Verallia Shares by the French Financial Markets Authority
PARIS, June 05, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News: The tender offer initiated by BWGI for Verallia's shares (the "Offer") has been cleared today by the French financial markets authority (Autorité des marchés financiers, "AMF"). With a holding of 28.84% of Verallia share capital, BWGI, an asset management company controlled by the Moreira Salles family, is the largest shareholder of Verallia. BWGI, acting through Kaon V1, proposes to acquire control of Verallia through a tender offer. This Offer is not subject to any success threshold other than the achievement of the regulatory threshold of 50% of the share capital or voting rights. All Verallia shares may be tendered to the Offer, subject to the exceptions and the restrictions detailed in BWGI's offer document. BWGI will not proceed with a squeeze-out at the end of the Offer period and has undertaken, subject to certain exceptions detailed in the offer document, to maintain the listing of Verallia shares on Euronext Paris for a period of three years. Bpifrance Participations, the second largest shareholder of the Company with approximately 7.6% of the share capital (representing 9,189,887 shares in the Company), informed the Company that it intends to tender 4,594,943 shares to the Offer, representing approximately 50% of its shareholding in the Company. The Offer was cleared by the AMF on 5 June 2025, which approved BWGI's offer document under the reference 25-196 and Verallia's response document under the reference 25-197. Prior to the opening of the Offer, Kaon V and Verallia will file their respective "other information" documents with the AMF, providing details on the legal, financial, accounting and other characteristics of BWGI and Verallia. The documentation relating to the Offer is available on the dedicated transaction website of Verallia ( as well as the AMF's website ( Terms of the transaction BWGI's Offer is priced at 28.30 euros per share (after detachment of the 2024 dividend of 1.70 euro). It is reminded that Verallia's Board of Directors, upon recommendation of the ad hoc Committee, issued a favorable opinion on the Offer detailed in the response document of Verallia. Ledouble, acting as independent expert, has issued a report concluding that the financial terms of the Offer are fair for Verallia's shareholders. Subject to obtaining the foreign investments control clearance from the French authorities and the approval of the European Commission in accordance with the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), the Offer could be opened on 23 June 2025 and to close on 25 July 2025. If the threshold of 50% of the share capital or voting rights is reached, the Offer would then be reopened from 31 July to 13 August 2025. The AMF will issue a notice announcing the opening and the timetable of the Offer. About Verallia At Verallia, our purpose is to re-imagine glass for a sustainable future. We want to redefine how glass is produced, reused and recycled, to make it the world's most sustainable packaging material. We work together with our customers, suppliers and other partners across the value chain to develop new, beneficial and sustainable solutions for all. With almost 11,000 employees and 35 glass production facilities in 12 countries, we are the European leader and world's third-largest producer of glass packaging for beverages and food products. We offer innovative, customised and environmentally friendly solutions to over 10,000 businesses worldwide. Verallia produced more than 16 billion glass bottles and jars and recorded revenue of €3.5 billion in 2024. Verallia's CSR strategy has been awarded the Ecovadis Platinum Medal, placing the Group in the top 1% of companies assessed by Ecovadis. Our CO2 emissions reduction target of -46% on scopes 1 and 2 between 2019 and 2030 has been validated by SBTi (Science Based Targets Initiative). It is in line with the trajectory of limiting global warming to 1.5° C set by the Paris Agreement. Verallia is listed on compartment A of the regulated market of Euronext Paris (Ticker: VRLA – ISIN: FR0013447729) and trades on the following indices: CAC SBT 1.5°, STOXX600, SBF 120, CAC Mid 60, CAC Mid & Small and CAC All-Tradable. Disclaimer Certain information included in this press release is not historical data but forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on estimates, forecasts and assumptions including, but not limited to, assumptions about Verallia's present and future strategy and the economic environment in which Verallia operates. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause Verallia's actual results and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include those detailed and identified in Chapter 4 "Risk Factors" of the Verallia universal registration document filed with the Autorité des marchés financiers ("AMF") on 27 March 2025 and available on the Company's website ( and that of the AMF ( These forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes summarized information only and does not purport to be exhaustive. This press release does not contain, nor does it constitute, an offer of securities or a solicitation to invest in securities in France, the United States, or any other jurisdiction. Protection of personal data You may unsubscribe from the distribution list of our press releases at any time by sending your request to the following email address: investors@ Press releases will still be available via the website Verallia SA, as data controller, processes personal data for the purpose of implementing and managing its internal and external communication. This processing is based on legitimate interests. The data collected (last name, first name, professional contact details, profiles, relationship history) is essential for this processing and is used by the relevant departments of the Verallia Group and, where applicable, its subcontractors. Verallia SA transfers personal data to its service providers located outside the European Union, who are responsible for providing and managing technical solutions related to the aforementioned processing. Verallia SA ensures that the appropriate guarantees are obtained in order to supervise these data transfers outside of the European Union. Under the conditions defined by the applicable regulations for the protection of personal data, you may access and obtain a copy of the data concerning you, object to the processing of this data and request for it to be rectified or erased. You also have a right to restrict the processing of your data. To exercise any of these rights, please contact the Group Financial Communication Department at investors@ If, after having contacted us, you believe that your rights have not been respected or that the processing does not comply with data protection regulations, you may submit a complaint to the CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés — France's regulatory body). _______________________________1 Kaon V is a compartment of the Irish fund Kaon Investment Fund ICAV, a fund managed by BWGI. View source version on Contacts Press contacts Sara Natij & Laurie Dambrineverallia@ | +33 (0)7 68 68 83 22 Investor relations contacts David Placet | Michele Degani | Benoit GrangeTristan Roquet-Montégonverallia@
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Blackstone among bidders for $800 million Paris office property, sources say
By Iain Withers LONDON (Reuters) -Blackstone is among several bidders shortlisted to buy a more than century-old office block in Paris with a price tag of 700 million euros ($800 million), a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, in what would be one of Europe's biggest post-pandemic office sales. The CityQuartier Trocadéro building is in a prime location in the 16th arrondissement near the Arc de Triomphe and was put up for sale by the owner, Germany's Union Investment, in March. Real estate investor Hines also made the cut, while Commerz Real, owned by Germany's Commerzbank, also put forward a bid that was unsuccessful, separate sources said. All sources declined to be named citing the sensitivity of the process. Global office prices were crushed after the COVID-19 pandemic upended working patterns, but return-to-office mandates have started to improve the picture, with investors warming to buildings seen as trophy assets in desirable locations. Built in 1913, the 444,000 square feet Paris block also contains 57 luxury apartments, catering and cafes. It was originally owned by French bank Societe Generale before being sold to Union in 2003. Investors have submitted bids in recent days, with some coming in under the asking price and closer to 650 million euros, the first source said. The process is still live and there can be no guarantee a deal is reached. A spokesperson for Union Investment confirmed that it had shortlisted investors and said it had excluded offers below 650 million euros. It declined to comment on individual bidders. Blackstone, Hines and Commerz Real declined to comment. Property publication Green Street News first reported that bidders had been shortlisted, and that others included AXA IM, Tishman Speyer and a joint venture between Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) and Generali. NBIM declined to comment, while the other investors named by GSN were not immediately available for comment. The building's offices are 98% let and home to tenants including watchmaker Swatch Group, chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli and law firm Reed Smith. Office sales in Europe last year slumped to their lowest level since 2009 and transaction levels have remained subdued this year, according to MSCI data. ($1 = 0.8755 euros) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
