Who’d buy Ubisoft? Top potential suitors for beleaguered Assassin’s Creed maker
With Ubisoft’s latest Assassin’s Creed game facing delays and independent board members reviewing strategic options, analysts are speculating on whether the gaming giant may finally put itself up for sale. The beleaguered French publisher last week postponed the launch of its upcoming “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” game by another month and appointed advisors to review its strategic options , in a sign company management may be quietly hoping for a full or partial sale of the business. Ubisoft hasn’t told shareholders what it’s planning in terms of a strategic deal. In its recent investor update , the firm said it would “inform the market in accordance with applicable regulations if and once a transaction materializes.” CNBC spoke to industry analysts about which names they think could emerge as potential buyers of the game maker. Here’s what they said. Tencent Tencent is one of the more likely candidates that might offer to buy Ubisoft, according to analysts. In October, Bloomberg News reported that Tencent had discussed working with the Guillemot brothers, who collectively hold the largest single stake in Ubisoft, to take the company private . Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported Tencent and the Guillemots were considering creating a new venture which would include certain Ubisoft assets. Tencent would own a stake in the venture and gain more control over some of Ubisoft’s intellectual properties, according to Bloomberg. “As already disclosed on January 9, Ubisoft has appointed advisors to review and pursue various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to extract the best value for stakeholders,” an Ubisoft spokesperson told CNBC. “No comment will be made until this review has been completed.” Tencent declined to comment on this story. Tencent has more of a reason to acquire Ubisoft compared to other candidates, Michael Pachter, a managing director at Wedbush Securities covering gaming, told CNBC. He added most Western buyers would be put off by the firm’s bloated cost base. “The cost structure at Ubisoft is way too high for any publisher to deal with,” Pachter said, adding that peers Activision, Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive all employ less people but generate more revenue than Ubisoft. Ubisoft had 18,666 employees by the end of September 2024, according to its latest quarterly earnings report. “I would say there is only a remote chance Western companies would bid,” Pachter said. “That leaves foreign buyers who have strategic interest.” Microsoft would likely be hesitant to make an acquisition bid for Ubisoft after facing considerable regulatory pressure over its $69 billion deal to buy gaming giant Activision Blizzard . James Batchelor, a business games writer and former editor-in-chief of GamesIndustry.biz, said Tencent buying Ubisoft could boost the Chinese tech giant’s international expansion plans. “With limits on how it can grow in its domestic market of China, Tencent has been investing in more and more studios in the West,” Batchelor told CNBC. In 2022, Tencent upped its stake in Guillemot Brothers Limited — which controls the majority of the family’s roughly 15% Ubisoft stake — to 49.9%, giving the firm 5% voting rights. Tencent also acquired Sumo Group , a U.K. video game maker, in 2021. “Any sort of ownership or stake in Ubisoft would help Tencent increase its presence in that sector of the games market,” Batchelor added. Guillemot Brothers Many analysts and investors expect the Guillemot brothers will likely play a role in a deal to acquire Ubisoft. “The most obvious suitor for Ubisoft would likely be another large publisher or a private equity-backed take-private deal, potentially led by Tencent and the Guillemot family,” Josh Chapman, managing partner at venture capital firm Konvoy Ventures, told CNBC. Ubisoft traces its roots to a farming business owned by the Guillemot brothers’ parents in the 1980s. All five brothers — Christian, Claude, Gerard, Michel and Yves Guillemot — helped with accounting, shipping and delivery support for the family business. By 1986, Ubisoft was formally founded. At the time it was named “Ubi Soft,” meaning “ubiquitous software.” Since its launch, Ubisoft has seen its share of controversies having scaled to a business with thousands of employees. In 2020, the firm faced a major scandal over sexual misconduct allegations that resulted in several top executives leaving the company. More recently, Ubisoft has made a series of layoffs to cut costs. Ubisoft’s shares are down more than 80% in the last five years. As of Wednesday’s market close, the company had a market capitalization of 1.6 billion euros ($1.65 billion). “By going private via M & A, this could provide a viable financial path forward for the company,” Chapman added. “Ubisoft’s extensive portfolio of IP and global presence make it an attractive target for consolidation in the gaming industry.” Savvy Games Group Another firm that could emerge as a potential buyer of Ubisoft is Savvy Games Group, a Saudi gaming and e-sports company owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The kingdom’s Public Investment Fund set up Savvy Games Group in 2021 to support Saudi Arabia’s bid to become a gaming hub. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman serves as chairman of the company. Wedbush’s Pachter said he expects Savvy Games Group will be the winning bidder in a race to buy Ubisoft. “The vision is to create jobs in Saudi Arabia, so as Ubisoft experiences attrition, it can replace lost jobs by hiring there,” Pachter told CNBC. Savvy Games Group was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. The company has committed billions of dollars to acquire and invest in game publishers. It owns minority stakes in EA, Take-Two and Activision. In 2023, Savvy Games Group acquired American mobile game publisher Scopely for $4.9 billion. “With Scopely, they are all set on mobile,” Pachter said. “Their next acquisition should be a PC or console developer, and Ubisoft checks all the boxes.” Savvy Games Group also has minority holdings in Nintendo and Sweden’s Embracer Group — although last year the group reduced its Nintendo stake to 7.54% from 8.58% previously. “Given the macroeconomic state of the industry, it’s unlikely Ubisoft would be acquired in a similar multi-billion dollar deal like that of Microsoft and Activision,” he said. “The companies that could afford to do this are focused on cutting costs, not increasing them.”
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