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Very nearly a quarter of Ubisoft is now owned by Vivendi.
As of the weekend, Vivendi has a 24.06 per cent stake in the French publisher, giving it voting rights of 21.3 per cent. Presumably it still wishes, as it has stated previously, to gain a seat on the board.
This has been rumbling on now for well over a year. In October 2015 Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot described Vivendi’s advances as unsolicited and unwelcome”. By June 2016 Vivendi had upped its stake to over 20 per cent, leading to a strong and very public show of unity from Ubisoft at E3.
The Guillemot brothers have themselves upped their stakes in an effort to protect their company.
In September it was feared that Vivendi would attempt to secure a board seat at Ubisoft’s AGM. This didn’t occur, although its refusal to vote on resolutions caused some not to pass – a move Ubisoft described as systematic obstruction” that impeded the proper functioning of the company”.
