Vivendi Withholds Vote at Ubisoft Shareholder Meeting
September 22 2017 - 1:09PM
Dow Jones News
By Max Bernhard
Vivendi SA (VIV.FR) said that it didn't vote on resolutions
submitted at Ubisoft Entertainment SA (UBI.FR) shareholders meeting
Friday in protest of not being invited to join the videogame
maker's board of directors.
"Vivendi regrets that, in defiance of all logical corporate
governance, it has not yet been invited to be a member of the board
of directors, even though it is the largest shareholder, with
26.63% of the share capital," the company said.
After buying an initial stake in 2015, Vivendi has been pushing
to get representation on Ubisoft's board since early last year. It
also abstained from voting on resolutions at Ubisoft's 2016
shareholder meeting. The French media company's interest in Ubisoft
stems in part from its ambition to grow in videogames, an industry
closely tied to movies and theme parks.
Ubisoft has said it wants to remain independent. It has
expressed concerns about a loss of shareholder value resulting from
Vivendi's involvement in the company.
On Friday, Vivendi said that it abstained from a vote to approve
a resolution to authorize the allocation of free shares to
employees, although it supports the resolution.
It complained that a "complete lack of transparency from the
family shareholders is depriving the company of significant support
in its development and of proven expertise in the fields of media
and entertainment."
Ubisoft was unable to comment immediately.
Write to Max Bernhard at Max.Bernhard@dowjones.com;
@mxbernhard
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 22, 2017 12:54 ET (16:54 GMT)
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