Ubisoft shareholders in talks over possible buyout terms, sources say

By Amy-Jo Crowley and Julie Zhu

LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Shareholders of Ubisoft Entertainment SA are considering how to structure a possible buyout of the Assassin's Creed video game maker without reducing the founding family's control, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Guillemot family, which is the largest and founding shareholder, has been in talks with Tencent and other investors in recent weeks about funding a management-led buyout of France's largest video games maker, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

However, the Guillemot family has indicated it would like to retain the control it has over the company, which also makes Just Dance, Far Cry and Tom Clancy's video game series, as part of a deal, the people said.

Tencent, currently the second-largest shareholder in Ubisoft and China's biggest social network and gaming firm, has yet to decide whether to participate in the buyout and increase its stake in the company, one of the people said.

This is partly because it has asked for a greater say on future board decisions including cash flow distribution in return for financing the deal, which has not been agreed upon with the Guillemot family, the person added.

Discussions between the two parties are ongoing as Tencent also wants to prevent any potential hostile takeover of Ubisoft by other investors, said the person, adding that Tencent's plan is to remain patient and wait for the founding family to agree to a deal.

Tencent may opt not to increase its stake in Ubisoft, as it considers its current direct holding of almost 10% in Ubisoft sufficient for maintaining its gaming business cooperation with the company, the person added.

Tencent declined to comment. A representative of the Guillemot family did not respond to requests for comment.

"We remain committed to making decisions in the best interests of all of our stakeholders" a spokesman for Ubisoft said. "In this context, as we have already indicated, the Company is also reviewing all its strategic options."

In October, Ubisoft said it regularly reviewed "all its strategic options", but declined further comment on a report of buyout interest.

The buyout talks come as some minority shareholders including AJ Investments have been pushing for either a take-private or a sale of Ubisoft to a strategic investor amid the stock price plunge, Reuters previously reported.

The company's shares fell to their lowest level in the last decade in September after it cut its outlook on weaker-than-expected sales and postponed the launch of "Assassin’s Creed Shadows" title.

This week it announced it would discontinue development of its gaming title XDefiant and as a consequence close its production studios in San Francisco and Osaka, and ramp down production in Sydney.

Ubisoft is run by the Guillemot family, which owns 15% of the firm, followed by Tencent which owns just under 10%, according to LSEG data.

The family held about 20.5% of Ubisoft's net voting rights while Tencent owned 9.2% as of the end of April, as per the firm's latest annual report.

(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley and Julie Zhu, with additional reporting by Mathieu Rosemain. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Louise Heavens)