Topic: Electronic Arts Finalizes Ubisoft Deal

[SS4Gogita]

EA sure does like to spend a lot of money.

Electronic Arts has formalized the purchase of almost three and a half million shares worth of stock from Ubisoft, the entertainment giant announced today.  Following on the heels of the initial announcement, EA now holds a whopping 3,497,049 shares of Ubisoft, each of which costs 19.69 Euros.

According to some reports, Ubisoft was apparently trying to fend off such an acquisition, but in the end it was inevitable.  This move however does not give EA any say over how the company is managed.  They only have access to 18.4% of the voting rights of the company compared to the 22.8% owned by the founders of Ubisoft, the Guillemot family.  At almost $88 million, it is easily one of Electronic Arts' biggest acquisitions.

[Ian Sane]

This is like having an alien possess 18.4% of your body.  Sure you're still in control now but that one hand keeps trying to do stuff and next thing you know you're killing your whole family and are powerless to stop it.  The intruder must be eliminated now before it eliminates you.

Plus 18.4% is pretty damn close to 22.8%.  This is a rather blatant attempt at a hostile takeover.  It's like for the last few years EA was secretly building up their military forces and now they're starting to invade neighbouring countries.

[Bill Aurion]

I wonder how long it'll take for EA to enter the console market...

[Karl Castaneda #2]

EA's not dumb enough to enter the console market. They make too much from multi-console releases. I'm pretty sure they're just trying to become the #1 publisher in the world (and they're not doing too badly at the moment), not the the point-blank dictator of the industry.

[vherub]

what they should do is get ubi to fix up this warrior within mess...

[matt oz]

They already ARE the #1 publisher in the world.  They just want more power, but really, who doesn't?

Although I was all for the NFL-exclusivity deal, I don't like this.  Ubi Soft is one of my favorite developers, and I don't wanna see them sink any farther into mediocrity.

[KDR_11k]

One big, amorphous blob of evil. And amorphous blobs without plasma cannons are bad.

[Djunknown]

"One big, amorphous blob of evil. And amorphous blobs without plasma cannons are bad. "

That's sig worthy

I seem to ask the dumb, obvious questions, but this means EA gets a cut whatever Ubisoft gets, right? Maybe if they slip back to mediocrity, EA will let go. Or maybe just buy them outright, with the pretense of 'turning them around'....

What else does does the big U have up its sleeve this year? One more PoP? Rayman DS becomes a sleeper hit? A sequel to Beyond Good and Evil? Hmmmm...  

[KDR_11k]

Maybe if they slip back to mediocrity, EA will let go.

Was mediocrity ever a concern for Electronic Derivatives?