EA buys 20% of UbiSoft

    I just got to ask something, since I have no idea about stocks and stuff:

    If they buy 20% of the stocks, does that mean that they have "controll" over UBI? Or just it just a matter of money?

    Or just a tactical thing so that if they are going to take over UBI they would own a bigger part of it?

    Well it sucks anyway.

    Stolve: I think they need a certain % before they can attempt a takeover bid, i'm not sure.. i think they're trying with DICE but can't get the 90% needed

    I think Jim from Ubisoft put it really well.

    Quote from JimJagger

    If EA now own 20% of Ubisoft that means that they are paying 20% of my wages. 20% of my wages is one day a week.

    I think I’ll stay home that day. ;o)

    Quote from Fletch

    Hey Klein, do you have stock options with Ubi? Because right now your shares are going up. You might want to sell a few off and build yourself a financial coushin for the... you know... impending doom.

    Oddly enough I think you hit on something you didn't mean to. In certain business circles it has become a practice to buy a big share of a company to artificially drive the stock up (like today) and get people to sell it off at a higher rate. This leaves many many many open shares to then quickly snatch up. The worst thing any ubi stock holder could do is sell right now.

    I think we'll be getting a statement from Ubisoft and Yves very soon regarding this and their strategy, especially concerning the stock holders and what they need to know about this.

    Yves aint going down without a fight.

    Hostile takeovers 101.

    JOIN THE DARK SIDE AS LONG AS YOU CAN !!!

    Na seriously, I don't like what's happening there. If EA manages to buy out the entire competition, this would neither be a good thing for gamers nor a good thing for developers.

    Quote from mikezilla

    Oddly enough I think you hit on something you didn't mean to. In certain business circles it has become a practice to buy a big share of a company to artificially drive the stock up (like today) and get people to sell it off at a higher rate. This leaves many many many open shares to then quickly snatch up. The worst thing any ubi stock holder could do is sell right now.

    I think we'll be getting a statement from Ubisoft and Yves very soon regarding this and their strategy, especially concerning the stock holders and what they need to know about this.

    Yves aint going down without a fight.

    Hostile takeovers 101.

    also of note...you don't really buy 20% of a competitor unless you are planning on acquiring the whole thing one day. It's a sort of "try before you buy" type consolidiation strategy. In a competitive industry like ours it probably means EA will (1) try to buy the majority stake within a year or (2) dump it completely (3) restructure (aka dissolve) Ubi and possibly keep Ubi's brand as a "division" of EA.

    The next six months of the EA-Ubi relationship are critical. One thing of note, this may be EA's bid to get into "light" M-rated games like Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon series. (As opposed to "heavy" M rated games like GTA, The Punisher, etc)

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