Det franske massemediefirma Vivendi har netop forøget deres andel i spilfirmaet Ubisoft. Vivendi er derved ejer af 17.73% af Ubisofts kapital og besidder 15.66% stemmerettigheder i firmaet. Trods deres øgede involvering i firmaet siger Vivendi at de ikke er interessrede i at tage direkte kontrol over firmaet.
Ubisofts CEO, Yves Guillemot, har været bekymret for denne udvikling siden Vivendi for første gang begyndte at købe sig ind i Ubisoft. Han mener blandt andet at Vivendis strategi, der går ud på at få mere og mere kontrol over et firma over en lang periode, er dårlig forretningspraksis. Han har i den forbindelse udtalt sig til Gameinformer:
“We are not at all surprised by this latest statement from Vivendi, nor by the intent behind it.
This is a confirmation of their habitual strategy of creeping control, in which they say they have no intention to take control of Ubisoft while steadily increasing their stake and preparing an offensive at the next Annual Shareholders Meeting.
This strategy of successively announcing conflicting intentions is contrary to good corporate practices and is not in the best interests of Ubisoft’s other shareholders.
Moreover, despite our repeated written requests since they first entered into our capital, Vivendi has never presented any details or convincing plan on how this supposed cooperation would take place.
Ubisoft’s management remains committed to preserving the independence of the company, which is the condition for the long-term value creation that will benefit all of our shareholders.”
Vivendi har, udover at forøge deres andel i Ubisoft, overtaget spilfirmaet Gameloft, som Guillemot og hans bror også ejer.