The latter half of last year saw persistent rumors about Ubisoft’s efforts toward stabilization, as the founding Guillemot family and the company’s largest stakeholder, Tencent, allegedly debated taking the company private through a buyout of other shareholders. Readers will recall that Ubisoft dodged the reports, simply saying that it “regularly reviews all its strategic options” and will “inform the market when it’s appropriate.” That line has been trotted out by the company once again as its own investors board tried to wring answers out of Ubisoft’s c-suite.
The interrogation of CEO Yves Guillemot and CFO Frederick Duguet came during an emergency call over another delay of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, but neither exec was willing to divulge any details. “We will inform the market if and when a transaction materializes,” Duguet is quoted as saying. “We are limited in what we can say today, but we have started a process.” Guillemot further pointed out that the referenced process is being done “with advisors, so that’s one more step.”
While the non-committal answers potentially rankled investors of Ubisoft, it all sounds like negotiations are still very much in progress and divulging too much information could potentially tip things off of a knife’s edge. The rumors and delay of one of its biggest game franchise entries are just another layer atop existing problems such as multiple employee layoffs and game shutdowns that aren’t helping ease flighty investor nerves.
