News: Ubisoft For Sale?
Posted 29 May 2005 at 16:00 by Tom Phillips
Though in no rush to be bought, it appears the third party giant is in talks with several companies over a possible deal.
You may remember back in December last year EA announced they had acquired 19.9 percent of the company, in an action Ubisoft bosses saw as hostile. "That tactical 20 percent does not help. It's a very bad start," Yves Guillemot, Chairman and CEO of Ubisoft said, adding that "it would be wrong to go with the first guy who wants to buy the company."
It is worth noting EA is currently the largest shareholder of Ubisoft, surpassing the Guillemot brothers, though EA lacks the right to vote on company actions. Guillemot is in "no rush" to sell Ubisoft, saying "our turnover is very good. We see our market share improving, so there's no rush to sell."
While Ubisoft seem unwilling for EA to buy them out (which will be a relief to those gamers critical of the publishing behemoth that is Electronic Arts), Guillemot added that "if someone comes with a very good offer, that will be very interesting ... I'm going to consider it."
More news on this as it breaks.