French media conglomerate Vivendi is reportedly in the process of deciding whether it should increase its stock holdings in Ubisoft or sell its shares.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has previously called the potential of a Vivendi takeover a "disaster", but a Bloomberg report of an AGM interview with Vivendi executives indicates that the media giant (which previously owned Activision) may be starting to look elsewhere.
That's by no means certain, however. Vivendi already owns 26% of the French publisher, and later this year its shareholder voting rights will increase, allowing it to potentially bring that share up to 30%. Under French law, this would put Vivendi over a threshold where it is required to bid for an Ubisoft takeover.
Vivendi has requested a board seat and was rejected, as Guillemot continues to dodge Vivendi's control over his family business.
Last year, Guillemot managed to convince other shareholders that Ubisoft as a company would thrive under the current board's control - in the last 12 months, stock prices have risen by 70 percent.
"A videogame company cannot grow within a media conglomerate," Guillemot explained to Bloomberg in a separate interview. "In our industry, independence is needed to take risks, to be innovative. That is not compatible with Vivendi’s way of operating."
With annual sales projected to grow by 18 percent, Guillemot is looking to secure the future of the company with new technology like cloud gaming, artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality. Ubisoft is also looking to expand into new markets the company isn't covering well, such as Asia and Russia.
Earlier this month, Ubisoft began further expansion, announcing that it would open a new Quebec studio next year.
Hope Corrigan is an Australian freelance writer for IGN. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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