Vivendi Refrains From Seeking a Spot on Ubisoft's Board -- 2nd Update
September 29 2016 - 01:56PM
Dow Jones News
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)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.