It's the tip of one other lengthy day at Fags & Mags & Rab(bid)s, a wee family-owned store and video game firm on the nook of a sleepy avenue within the Parisian suburb of Montreuil.
Michel Guillemot is down on his palms and knees, fishing beneath the choose ‘n’ combine show for unfastened sweets he then dusts on the lapel of his brown cotton shopcoat earlier than popping them again into their right field.
A yelp rises from the again room. Yves Guillemot rushes out, a dusty bottle of prosecco in his hand and a large smile throughout his face.
“Brother!” Yves cries. “They did it! We’re protected! We did it!”
Michel slips a gummy egg between his lips and waits for Yves to settle down.
“Vivendi! Finally! They stated they’d! They have!” he gasps whereas tearing on the foil on the bottle. Yves notices his brother’s bemused look (and pretends to not discover he is consuming the inventory once more) and pauses to catch his breath. “Vivendi lastly bought their remaining Ubisoft shares. That’s the very finish of their takeover try. Our household enterprise is protected.”
Michel swallows and reaches for a pack of plastic picnic champagne flutes.
Over a number of years, Vivendi had purchased increasingly more Ubishares, creeping nearer to the 30% mark the place they’d get to make a proposal on the corporate. They obtained actual shut, amassing 27% of shares, and Ubi were not best pleased by the takeover prospect. But Vivendi threw within the towel in March 2017, saying they’d promote their shares and swear to not attempt once more for some time.
That is now full. Vivendi introduced yesterday that they’ve now bought their remaining shares, which made up 5.87% of Ubi.
“Vivendi is no longer a Ubisoft shareholder and maintains its commitment to refrain from purchasing Ubisoft shares for a period of five years,” they said.
Or perhaps that is all of the build-up to a dramatic sequel in 2024. Like the mega-spacewar of Battlestar Galactica’s reboot following years of obvious peace. Hundreds and 1000’s of males in fits seem from nowhere, encircling Fags & Mags & Rab(bid)s on a quiet morning.
For now, your pleasant native mother ‘n’ pop video game studio shall stay as unbiased as a publicly-traded multinational company partially owned by megacorps can.
