Tencent increases its stake in Ubisoft

Chinese company Tencent has increased its share of Ubisoft through a partnership with Guillemot Brothers Limited (GBL). The holding is owned by the Guillemot family who own 13.2 percent of the game developer.

In a statement, Ubisoft wrote: that Tencent is investing 300 million euros in GBL for a 49.9 percent stake in the company. Of that amount, 200 million euros will be invested in the shares and 100 million euros for the capital increase. The estimated value of a single share is 80 euros.

GBL currently owns 13 percent of the shares in Ubisoft. Tencent now owns 4.5 percent of the shares in the game developer, but can increase that to 9.99 percent through the collaboration with GBL. Tencent’s voting rights, however, are limited to 5 percent and the company will not receive a seat on the board. Reuters wrote last month based on insider information that Tencent wants to become Ubisoft’s largest shareholder.

In recent years, Tencent has bought shares in several Western game developers and publishers. The Chinese company owns shares of Epic Games, Riot Games, BlueHole, Activision Blizzard, Grinding Gear Games, Paradox Interactive and more. The most prominent game companies that it owns a majority or all of are Riot Games and Grinding Gear Games. Tencent has also had a minority stake in Dark Souls maker From Software since last month.