LOS ANGELES (AP) – Shares of Ubisoft jumped more than 30 per cent on Friday, following reports that Tencent and the Guillemot family are considering a buyout of the video game maker.
Bloomberg news reported that Tencent and Guillemot family – minority stakeholders in Ubisoft – have been discussing ways to stabilise the company after it lost more than half its market value this year. Shares surged 33.5 per cent to about USD15.57 on Friday, according to FactSet.
Ubisoft declined to comment. Tencent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
France-based Ubisoft is the publisher behind the well-known franchise Assassin’s Creed. Ubisoft’s shares fell last month to their lowest point in more than a decade after its latest title Star Wars Outlaws underperformed and the company announced that it would delay the latest Assassin’s Creed game.
Ubisoft’s Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot said in a statement last week that the company’s “second quarter performance fell short of our expectations”.
