Gameitall 
The continuing battle between Vivendi and Ubisoft has been escalating as Vivendi has upped their shares in Ubisoft to 25.15% with 22.92% of its voting rights as of December 7th.
According to French law, the amount of stock a person or company can hold is capped at 30 percent. If a person passes the 30 percent mark, they are obliged to launch a public offer on the company. Earlier this Summer Vivendi took control of Gameloft from the Guillemot family after acquiring 29% of the shares.
VIvendi however is stating that there is nothing to worry about. “Vivendi is not considering the launch of a public tender on Ubisoft nor acquiring the control of the company,” according to the press release on Vivendi’s official website. “Vivendi is hoping to build a fruitful cooperation with Ubisoft.”
Despite this, Vivendi did state that they are likely to buy more shares in the company and wanted to reorganize the board of directors in order to “obtain board representation consistent with its shareholder position.”
This could lead up to a well known take-over tactic called creeping control, where Vivendi would gain control of the company via the board of directors, if it fails, it still places them in an easy place to move to a takeover through stock purchases.
Of course this makes Ubisoft and president Yves Guillemot very nervous, stating that they will not relax until Vivendi sell their shares in the company. “The creeping control strategy implemented by Vivendi is dangerous. We think that there’s a great risk of shareholders losing value,” Guillemot said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal back in September.
A spokes person for Ubisoft has also stated in a written comment that this shows Vivendi’s true motive. “This is another indication that Vivendi is continuing its ill-advised and value-destructive approach of attempting to take creeping control of companies like Ubisoft,” the spokesperson said in a written statement. “As we’ve said previously, we are undeterred by these actions and remain focused on providing the best experiences to our players and fans, and to delivering long-term value for all of our shareholders.”
