(Bloomberg) — Ubisoft Entertainment SA is looking to bring in investors to a new entity that will include some of its core video-gaming intellectual property, including Assassin’s Creed, according to people familiar with the situation.
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The company is considering selling a minority stake in the venture and has contacted potential bidders, including current shareholder Tencent Holdings Ltd. and funds globally and in France, where Ubisoft is based, the people said. Ubisoft has asked for preliminary bids to be made as soon as this month, the people added, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter.
Ubisoft, which was founded by France’s Guillemot family, may seek a valuation for the yet-to-be formed IP unit that is higher than the size of the main company’s, the people said. Considerations are ongoing, no final decision has been made and plans could still change, they added.
A representative for Ubisoft referred a query for comment to the company’s quarterly earnings, in which it said the review of various transformational strategic and capitalistic options is ongoing to help extract the best value from Ubisoft’s assets and franchises for all stakeholders. Tencent declined to comment.
Ubisoft shares rose 4% to €12.78 at 11:29 a.m. in Paris trading on Friday after earlier gaining as much as 4.6%.
The Guillemot family and Tencent have been considering various options for Ubisoft, including a potential buyout, Bloomberg News reported last year. In January, people familiar with the matter said the parties were looking at creating the new venture containing certain video-game assets.
The deliberations follow a slump in Ubisoft’s share price, which has dropped for four-straight years, including a 43% decline in 2024. The Paris-based company now has a market value of about €1.7 billion ($1.8 billion).
Ubisoft sales totaled €318 million in the October-December quarter, down nearly 50% from a year earlier, according to a Feb. 13 statement. As part of cost-cutting efforts, the company is discontinuing shooter game XDefiant and also closed three production studios. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is due to debut on March 20, and pre-orders of the game are “tracking solidly,” Ubisoft said.
–With assistance from Jason Schreier.
