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Report: EA To Sell Off 15 Percent Ubisoft Stake
by Kris Graft [PC, Console/PC]
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July 16, 2010
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Electronic Arts will sell off a 15 percent stake in Paris, France-based Prince of Persia publisher Ubisoft, according to financial reports, ending years-long speculation of an acquisition.
A Ubisoft spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal on Friday, "Electronic Arts informed us that it was selling its share in Ubisoft." EA is Ubisoft's largest shareholder.
In 2004, EA said it would purchase around 19.9 percent of Ubisoft's shares, leading to speculation that EA was looking to acquire Ubisoft. At the time, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot called the share purchase "hostile."
Ubisoft's spokesperson added, "This is good news for Ubisoft which regains its independence, although Electronic Arts has always supported our strategy."
Bloomberg Businessweek cited two people close to the deal who valued the sell-off at €94 million ($122 million). EA reportedly sold off all of its remaining Ubisoft shares.
Paris-based analyst Conor O’Shea with Kepler Capital Markets said that the sell-off "opens the door for somebody else to potentially look at Ubisoft." O'Shea speculated that EA rival and Call of Duty publisher Activision could now step in to acquire Ubisoft.
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Haha. That's my rolling on the floor moment for today. What a ridiculous statement. UBI is doomed. A tired Clancy franchise, Assasins Creed of diminishing interest after each title is released and a decent dance title. Like Kotick is really going to buy that.
Splinter Cell just got a refresh and sold well leading to a pretty significant YoY sales increase for Q1, beating their own estimates and probably market estimates as well. If they can bring the fresh, panther-like experience to another Splinter Cell but give a longer campaign and more non-lethal and stealth options they could have another big seller (just addressing gripes with the current game).
They have an opportunity with Rainbow Six as well. I'm not sure about MoH, but CoD doesn't support a co-op campaign. A polished, fully co-op R6 campaign with a few multiplayer nuances (perhaps some actual objective based play) could find a spot in the market and sell enough to make a decent profit. The first two were well received.
I'm curious to see more about the new Ghost Recon as well. It's a bit more sim-like than the CoD style roller coaster action flick motif. I played the MW2 campaign for about 4 missions before I got bored. It's too over-the-top, like Transformers 2 but without even the cool giant robots. If I wanted that much adrenaline pumping non-stop I'd just do meth. Perhaps GR can use correct pacing and offer up some interesting new scenarios. Some neat future tech would rock too.
I think Ubi has a nice stable of franchises and they've shown a willingness to shake things up ( SC ). I think that there is a chance their properties get stale but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.
More on topic, I don't see Activision going after them any time soon. ATVI has enough to work with and their focus now is on monetizing online play and building out existing franchises. I don't see adding Ubi having a lot of shareholder interest at the moment, especially since they would have to completely change Ubi corporate and studio culture post acquisition. Perhaps if Ubi comes out with a couple more winners in the next few years we'll see a cash play from Acti.