Ubisoft CEO on Vivendi’s share acquisition – “We’re going to fight to preserve”

Meanwhile, Ubisoft has been showing a bit of growing pains lately, falling prey to the criticisms of larger publishers like EA and Activision over DLC and microtransactions, botched AAA launches, severely over-hyping games, and other similar situations that major companies deal with. Add to that the annual Assassin’s Creed titles, the upcoming Far Cry spinoff and The Division, and you’ve got an impressive looking portfolio that seems to scream profits.

Ubisotf’s CEO, Yves Guillemot has expressed concerns following Vivendi’s recent share acquisition, viewing it as a first attempt to gain control of the company. A total of $160 million was spent to obtain roughly 6% of each company, “with a view to utilising its available cash”. In it he acknowledges Vivendi reputation for “aggressively pursuing companies within the entertainment sector” and referred to the purchase as “unsolicited and unwelcome”.

To that, Guillemot promises that Ubisoft will “fight to preserve [its] independence”.

Vivendi’s aggressive pursuit of Ubisoft shares has not gone unnoticed by company staff, reportedly leading CEO Yves Guillemot to issue an e-mailed statement to Ubisoft employees concerned by a potential hostile takeover.

So watch this space. The Vivendi stake-building sent both shares up sharply as analysts speculated that Vivendi could seek to take over or merge the two groups. Guillemot went on to say that Ubisoft will fight to remain independent. Or maybe broken down altogether and sold for parts?

Ubisoft has risen 67 percent this year, giving the Montreuil, France-based company a market value of 2.8 billion euros ($3.2 billion). Could it be that someone at Vivendi has?