Â
>>REAL-TIME UPDATES IN THE WIRE. CLICK HERE<<<
Â
Â
Tencent Holdings is raising its stake in Ubisoft Entertainment SA, maker of the “Assassin’s Creed” and “Tom Clancy’s” franchises and France’s biggest games developer in a deal that values the game developer at almost $10 billion.
On Tuesday, the two companies announced that Tencent invested 300 million euros ($296.9 million) in Guillemot Brothers Limited, amounting to a 49.9% stake in the company. Tencent only gets 5% voting rights in the company.
Guillemot Brothers Limited is controlled by the Guillemot family, and is the entity that controls the majority of the family’s roughly 15% stake in Ubisoft. The Guillemot brothers founded Ubisoft in 1986 and have fought hard to keep the company independent and protected from a takeover.
Tencent’s investment values Ubisoft shares at 80 euros each, an 83% premium on Tuesday’s closing price and gives it an indirect stake in the games developer.
“Tencent is a key shareholder partner for many of the industry’s leaders, who have created some of the most outstanding video games,” said Ubisoft Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot. “This transaction reinforces our ability to create strong value over the coming years.”
The latest deal comes as Tencent’s recent overseas purchase including 16.25% of Japan’s “Elden Ring” developer FromSoftware announced just a week ago – the same time domestic rival NetEase Inc said it would buy French games maker Quantic Dream.