Ubisoft accused of hiding the fact that Microsoft, EA and others are interested in buying its brands
One of Ubisoft's investors accuses the company not only of disastrous management, but also of failing to inform investors about important talks with other publishers.
Ubisoft may face protests again, but this time not from its own employees, but from the company's investors, some of whom feel "cheated" by the French publisher.
If you have been following the turmoil surrounding Ubisoft over the past year, you may Juraj Krupa, the founder and CEO of the hedge fund AJ Investments. The group holds a modest share in the French publisher's stock (less than 1%), but the Slovak leader, who is also a member of the National Council, has been one of the main critics of Ubisoft in recent months.
In September, he was the one who, among other things, urged the removal of the current company board, including CEO Yves Guillemot. In the same month, his idea of selling Ubisoft was supposed to gain the of 10% of investors.
Now Krupa is trying to organize a shareholders' protest at the publisher's headquarters in Paris.
Does Ubisoft want to sell its brands?
According to IGN, Krupa states in his statement that Ubisoft is "terribly managed by the current board," and as an investor, he calls for a "clear roap" with plans for the company's "revitalization" due to its "decreasing shareholder value, weak operational performance, and failure to effectively adapt to market trends."
There is probably no need to explain what Krupa refers to. The recent years of Ubisoft weren't particularly successful and even Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, which significantly reduced the value of the French company's shares.
However, the founder of AJ Investments also points to another issue.According to Krupa, Ubisoft "hid information" from investors, including cooperation with the Arab Savvy Group and alleged talks with Microsoft, EA and other entities regarding the sale of the French publisher's brands.
This latest information is said to come from an article by the MergerMarket group, not publicly available, and wasn't ed on to investors, much to Krupa's dismay.
It's worth noting that last year reports were indicating Tencent was one of the potential buyers of Ubisoft, though the matter might have been about control over the company (i.e., the Guillemot family retaining a significant portion).
Shareholders' frustration
IGN ed Ubisoft and managed to obtain a statement from the French company. Ubisoft didn't respond to MergerMarket reports and limited itself to repeating earlier statements about searching for "various options" to "extract the best value from assets and brands" for all interested parties.
As we mentioned during our Q3 sales, the review of various transformational strategic and capitalistic options is ongoing. The Board has established an ad-hoc independent Committee to oversee this formal and competitive process, so as to extract the best value from Ubisoft's assets and franchises for all stakeholders. Ubisoft will inform the market in accordance with applicable regulations if and once a transaction materialises.
Krupa highlighted in his statement that he is aware of the French publisher's actions, but anticipates they will produce results in the months. Nevertheless, the Slovak is already calling on "frustrated" investors to the protest at Ubisoft's Paris headquarters in May.
This should give the company enough time to increase its value in the eyes of shareholders and demonstrate that the publisher works transparently, without withholding information. Otherwise, Ubisoft has to reckon not only with protests but also with a potential lawsuit.
