Tencent to double Ubisoft stake with latest $300M investment

Tencent has invested significantly in Guillemot Brothers Limited, the company with the largest stake in Ubisoft.

Done deal: It was reported in August that Tencent was looking to increase its 5% stake in Ubisoft.

• Tencent has acquired a passive, minority stake in Guillemot Brothers Limited for a total of $297M (€300M). The Guillemot family will retain control over the company with Tencent holding no seats on the Board of Directors.
• Specifically, the Chinese company now owns a 49.9% stake in the business and holds 5% of the voting rights. The deal will eventually see Tencent's stake in Ubisoft increase to almost 10%.
• The investment will see the formation of a strategic partnership between the two which will take "several" of Ubisoft's games to the mobile and Chinese markets.
• "In a context where platforms and business models are converging, this transaction, which validates our strategy and highlights the strong intrinsic value of the assets we have built over the long term, is excellent news for our teams, gamers and shareholders," said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.

The state of play: There has been a flurry of activity in gaming when it comes to mergers and acquisitions so far in 2022.

• It's long been rumored and reported that Ubisoft was attracted significant takeover interest but it appears that, for the foreseeable, it will remain one of the few major independent publishers.
• The likes of Microsoft's prospective acquisition of Activision Blizzard, along with several other prominent deals in 2022, signal that the gaming industry is in an era of consolidation and competition with major players looking to maintain or increase their market share in the sector.
• Tencent, of course, is undoubtedly among the frontrunners in that regard. It has ownership ties to the likes of Riot Games, Epic Games, Supercell, Sea, Activision Blizzard, and FromSoftware, among others.