Ubisoft is once again responding to buyout rumors which have surfaced over the past few months, saying the speculation proves the company's "real appeal and value."
"The current speculation is putting in plain sight the real appeal and value of our success and of our value creation strategy," said Yves Guillemot in call with investors Wednesday. "As mentioned before, as a publicly traded company, it is standard practice for our board to review any offer, in the interest of all shareholders, and of our creatives."
Back in February, Ubisoft said that it would consider acquisition offers per standard practice, adding that it had "the talent, the industry scale, and a large portfolio of popular IP" to stay independent. Then in April, buyout rumors heated up substantially when a report from Bloomberg claimed that early talks were happening at several private equity firms about acquiring Ubisoft. At the same time, Ubisoft employees were telling Kotaku that they believed the company would eventually be sold.
- Ubisoft "won't comment" on reports of Tencent buyout, only says it's "exploring different options" and "will inform the market if and when a transaction materializes"
- Ubisoft reportedly in talks for yet more buyout consideration on the heels of another high-profile flop with XDefiant's pending shutdown
Just last week, it was reported that the Guillemot family, which founded Ubisoft, was looking to get ahead of external buyers with its own buyout of the company. And yet despite all the buzz, Ubisoft still isn't commenting on any recent reports directly, instead reiterating that "we have everything we need to remain independent." Again, the company said it would review any offers it received, but declined to confirm whether it had seen any. Regardless, Ubisoft maintains that should it decide to sell, the buyer would be getting a pretty sweet deal.
Several exciting things are going on behind the scenes at Ubisoft, from the Prince of Persia remake switching studios to the confirmation of its new "Project Q" PvP game.
