No matter what Vivendi says, it’s no secret that they’re hoping to take over Ubisoft. Vivendi just completed a hostile takeover of Gameloft and is currently sitting at 20.1% of Ubisoft’s stock. Not only is that 10% away from an automatic takeover bid, required by French law, but that also entitles Vivendi to a seat on Ubisoft’s board of directors. Ubisoft isn’t too happy by any of Vivendi’s actions and they’re doing something about it.
In addition to protecting their stock, Ubisoft has nominated two new independent directors. This would add seats to their board of directors, bringing the total up to ten, but more importantly, it would create a five person block that would hopefully prevent any Vivendi-influenced votes.
This may seem like paranoia, but Ubisoft has plenty of reason to worry. Vivendi has already taken over Gameloft, which was founded and owned by the brother of Ubisoft’s founder and CEO, and is known for their takeover tactics. Vivendi is a massive company with their hands in the pockets of all kinds of entertainment industries. Ubisoft is the third largest video game publisher, and seeing them get taken over and kicked out of their own company would be rather somber.
