Quote:Posted by Josh Freund at 09:08:43 AM EST on 12.20.2004.



Electronic Arts announced today that it is buying a lot of shares in France-based Ubi Soft. 19%, to be precise. This has fueled speculation of a total buy-out by EA. Yes, EA could easily buy Ubi Soft if they wanted to.

"Electronic Arts is unlikely to stop at the 20 percent threshold. There is an industrial logic behind this move. They must be gearing up for an acquisition," one sector analyst said.

You may know Ubi Soft as the company behind such popular titles as the Tom Clancy games (Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, etc.) and Prince of Persia. What effect this EA transaction will have on Ubi Soft's future titles is unknown at this time, but if EA decides to do a total buyout, you can bet on some changes, whether better or worse.

The 19% shares transaction will be completed after EA gets U.S. anti-trust clearance. If anything else develops, we'll be sure to let you know.

Quote:Then they just have to say no when they try and buy the shares. Can't they just refuse to sell shares to certain people?

Quote:December 20, 2004 - After buying exclusive rights to make the only official NFL videogame, Electronic Arts today shocked (and maybe horrified) the industry by moving to acquire 19.9% interest in Ubisoft, the French publisher and developer of games such as Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six and Prince of Persia.



If it can hurdle US regulators, the almost 20% block share bought from Dutch investor Talpa Beheer (which held a minority share), the holding company of billionaire TV producer Jon De Mol, shows there is little that stands in EA's way to buy whatever and whoever it wants. The agreement is said to have cost between $85 million and $100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

EA would not say whether this purchase meant it's intent on buying the whole company, but it does mean that EA will have a say in future transactions.

But a Ubisoft spokespeson said it would consider such a stake "hostile," until the firm acquired more details from EA. "Pending further information, we consider this operation as hostile," an Ubisoft spokesman told Reuters. "We think this operation is aimed at securing the studios of Ubisoft that are ready to face the next generation of gaming consoles."

With this potential purchase, EA will become the largest single shareholder in the French company. That's a larger share than even the original founders who control 15%.

EA has had partnerships before, including its role with Square prior to Sony buying a significant share (remember Square-EA?). This move also could be to ward off potential suitors, such as Microsoft, from buying Ubisoft.

Earlier this year EA also acquired Criterion Software, the developers of the Burnout series as well as its own Renderware software. EA has also been making moves in China where it is looking for acquisition candidates.

We'll have news on EA's mad rush to acquire other companies as soon as, erm...who knows, tomorrow?