By Stacy Meichtry and Inti Landauro 

PARIS -- French billionaire Vincent Bolloré refrained from seeking representation on Ubisoft Entertainment SA's board at a meeting of the videogame maker's shareholders on Thursday.

Ubisoft had been bracing to see whether Vivendi SA, which Mr. Bolloré chairs and which has acquired a 23% stake, would seek seats on its board. Such a move would have paved the way for a more active role for Mr. Bolloré in Ubisoft or even a full takeover of the maker of "Assassin's Creed" and other videogames.

Instead, Vivendi said it abstained from voting on all of the resolutions presented Thursday, including a majority vote that reappointed two of the company's founders, Yves and Gérard Guillemot, as Ubisoft board members.

Although the closely watched shareholder meeting ended with the Guillemot family retaining control of the board, the standoff with Mr. Bolloré is likely to continue.

Vivendi has been pushing for board representation since April and claims there are untapped synergies between Ubisoft and Vivendi's music, movie and television, and videogame units.

"Vivendi considers that it would be good corporate governance for it to be represented on the company's board of directors considering its level of equity interest," Vivendi said after the meeting.

Still, the meeting marked a temporary victory for the Guillemot family in its efforts to fend off a well-known corporate raider with a record of creeping takeovers.

Mr. Bolloré, who as chairman of Vivendi calls the shots with just a 15% stake, has made a fortune over the past three decades, often by using shareholder resolutions to seize control of businesses. He orchestrated Vivendi's hostile takeover in May of mobile-game developer Gameloft SE, another business founded by the Guillemot family.

Ubisoft, founded three decades ago by the Guillemot family, last year enlisted advisory firm Lazard Inc. to help repel any unsolicited approach. In February, it held a special shareholder meeting at which it took the unusual step of disclosing its financial targets for the next three years, instead of one.

Vivendi's stake-building in Ubisoft highlights the growing significance of the $100 billion videogame industry to the world's media companies. Once comprising simple arcade and home-computer titles popular with teens, videogaming has matured into a pastime integrated throughout popular culture, generating revenue for publishers in areas from movies to theme parks. It is also a rising professional sport, with mainstream advertisers sponsoring teams that compete in matches watched by millions of fans in arenas and on the web.

Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com and Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 29, 2016 13:41 ET (17:41 GMT)

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