Ubisoft and French media giant Vivendi have been playing a slow, corporate game of chess in recent months as Ubisoft struggles to evade a presumed hostile takeover.
In short, Vivendi has been buying up a lot of Ubi shares, though it claims a takeover is not its intention. However, with a holding of roughly 18% of Ubisoft's voting shares, Vivendi does want a seat on the board of directors, from which it can steer the company.
Ubisoft is not at all keen on this idea—Vivendi is the company Activision Blizzard paid $8 billion to be free of. Its nomination of two new directors appears to be a direct attempt to prevent the encroachment.
Frederique Dame, formerly of Uber, and Florence Naviner of Wrigley have been nominated to join the board at the September 29 general shareholders meeting. If approved, the increased number of independent members on the board would make Ubisoft that bit harder for Vivendi to control.
To draw on one of Ubisoft's own lines: "Everything is permitted."
Thanks, Game Informer.
