Ubisoft for sale

[jvd]

PARIS (Reuters) - Ubisoft (UBIP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) , Europe's second-largest video games publisher, is in takeover talks with several parties and does not rule out being acquired by larger U.S. rival Electronic Arts (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) if offered a high enough price, the company's chairman and chief executive said on Thursday.

"We are speaking with third parties that are interested either to merge (or to invest in the company)," Yves Guillemot told the Reuters Telecoms, Media and Technology Summit here on Thursday.

"If someone comes with a very good offer, that will be very interesting ... I'm going to consider it," Guillemot said, adding that several Chinese companies were among the suitors, although he declined to provide further details.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8624116

IF ms or sony buys them it would be a good coup

 

[BOOMEXPLODE]

I bid $5

 

[Acert93]

1.

How bad is Ubi hurting for money?


2.

What game entities does Ubisoft own? i.e. Lets cut out:

- Franchises they publish for independant developers (that is, they do not own these and after whatever contract is competed they could jump ship), or

- Generic franchises they do not own but have licensed (i.e. Star Wars, Pooh, Rocky, Dukes of Hazards, Batman, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

From their site I see that they publish:

Splinter Cell
FarCry
Rayman
Everquest (Sony partnership)
Chestmaster
Ghost Recon
Rainbow Six
Brothers In Arms
Prince of Persia
Cold Fear
Settlers
Lumines
Myst
Silent Hunter
187 Ride or Die
Ape Escape
Beyond Good and Evil
Monster 4x4
XIII
Conflict Zone
IL-2
Shadowbane

Which of these are "Ubi Franchises" and which of these are only published by Ubi?

Obviously the hurdle for Sony, MS, or Nintendo to pick up Ubi is that it would not only cost a lot of money, but it would also mean a big downturn for Ubi profits being limited to 1 console (and possibly the PC). My guess is the console makers would need to gut Ubi and focus on the key franchises and make them VERY productive.

Yet looking at the Ubi sales for their best selling series, I do not know if buying them would be such a great idea for a non-publisher:

http://www.ubisoftgroup.com/AboutUbisoft/Default.aspx?cpid=181

The Rayman® range: more than 15 million units sold
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell®: 12.5 million units sold
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six®: 12 million units sold
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon®: more than 8 million units sold
Myst®: more than 11 million units sold
Prince of Persia®: almost 5 million units sold
Chessmaster®: more than 5 million units sold
Settlers®: over 5 million units sold

They are the 3rd larger independent European pubisher and 5th US. Maybe their bigger PLUS is that they are the 2nd largest in-house development staff.

While some of the franchises above could get some great exposure and really hit the next level with the money Sony or MS could put behind them, I am sure others would suffer due to less exposure and others (like Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon) may want out of their name-deals (Tom Clancy) with the thought hitting as many consoles as possible is most profitable.

But it is interesting to think of Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, BiA, FarCry, Rayman, and Prince of Persia as console exclusives. But note: all but the last 2 are shooters, and all of those but FarCry are tactical/stealth/military related games.

Those titles are high quality, but are a specific market niche. They seem to have a fairly narrow portfolio in general. Are they worth Billions?


3.

Please oh please do not let EA buy them out... I would like to see some of the other strong non-EA publishers get a crack at this. I think the competition would be good. Losing MORE competition in the market would just be bad imo.

 

[loekf2]

PARIS (Reuters) - Ubisoft (UBIP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) , Europe's second-largest video games publisher, is in takeover talks with several parties and does not rule out being acquired by larger U.S. rival Electronic Arts (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) if offered a high enough price, the company's chairman and chief executive said on Thursday.

If it's EA, I'm going to burn my copies of Splinter Cell and FarCry immediately.

My god... why EA ?

 

[Evil_Cloud]

PARIS (Reuters) - Ubisoft (UBIP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) , Europe's second-largest video games publisher, is in takeover talks with several parties and does not rule out being acquired by larger U.S. rival Electronic Arts (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) if offered a high enough price, the company's chairman and chief executive said on Thursday.

If it's EA, I'm going to burn my copies of Splinter Cell and FarCry immediately.

My god... why EA ?

I was thinking they wanted to merge just because of a possible EA takeover... Atari + Ubisoft would make a damn strong team.

 

[cthellis42]

EA would seem to be in the best position so far, but it would indeed be a bright and shiny toy for MS or Sony!

I'm wondering why they're bothering, though... Hasn't their performance in recent years been pretty positive?

 

[Guden Oden]

My god... why EA ?

Because they got tons of money to spend?

 

[cthellis42]

Microsoft will let EA spend themselves weak acquiring Ubisoft... and then Microsoft will STRIKE and buy EA!

 

[rusty]

this isn't really news.... this is business; pretty much anything and everything is permanently "for sale" - for the right price


but that they are actually considering particular offers is significant. i rmember reading that two of the potential buyers are big chinese companies

 

[Gollum]

I'd be willing to get out the piggy bank to save Ubisoft from EA's greedy fingers, who's with me? Together we might ... ah forget it, I hope someone else buys them though... :?

 

[jpr27]

Wasnt UBI going through the same thing a couple months ago? Or is this just the continuation? I thought that EA tried to buy them awhile back or am I thinking of the wrong company

I agree that MS or Sony picking them up wouldnt be a bad move but seeing they would profit more on multi console perspective might be more reasonable. Then again if Sony or MS could get the Clancy franchise without buying UBI that might be a better option.

I'm not sure if the Tom Clancy franchise could leave UBI if it was sold due to clauses in their contracts but I wouldnt be suprised if one existed.

But I do hope that EA doesnt get it in the end. For buying and owning so many properties now they have alot to prove with the franchises they already own. But then again its EA and they seems they want to be the MS of the gaming industry

 

[AlNom]

Wasnt UBI going through the same thing a couple months ago? Or is this just the continuation? I thought that EA tried to buy them awhile back or am I thinking of the wrong company

From the looks of it now, I'd have thought EA was doing UBI a favour by putting cash into their pockets. This is me believing that they weren't lying when they said it wasn't a hostile takeover.


Edit:
hm... or rather EA knew what was going down, and figured they would try to secure a future buy-out.

Moving the conversation toward Ubisoft, Jenson said, "There was a block of shares that was on the market [and] we thought it was important that we own them. And so we negotiated and were successful in reaching an agreement to acquire roughly 19, 20 percent of Ubisoft. From there, it's about keeping all of our options open. And…that's about as far as I will go."

But Jenson made it clear that one of those options might be an attempt to acquire Ubisoft, telling the audience of analysts that not only is the company "open" to acquisitions, but "we think they will continue to be a part of our growth story."

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/02/17/news_6118777.html