Tencent and Guillemot Brothers' Ubisoft buyout reportedly held up by dispute over control

Ubisoft's two biggest shareholders continue to discuss a potential buyout that would take the Assassin's Creed publisher private, but a new report suggests there is disagreement over control of the business going forward.

Sources close to the matter told Reuters that Guillemot Brothers Ltd – run by the family of the same name, including Ubisoft co-founder and long-serving CEO Yves Guillemot – hopes to retain the control it currently has over Ubisoft after the deal is done.

However, Tencent is said to be holding off taking part in the buyout and increasing its stake in Ubisoft until it has been promised a greater influence when it comes to future board decisions.

The discussions between the two are ongoing – in part to help prevent any other investor performing a hostile takeover of Ubisoft – with Reuters' sources claiming Tencent plans to bide its time and wait for the Guillemot family to agree to its conditions.

Tencent declined Reuters' request for comment, while the Guillemot family did not respond.

Word of a potential buyout first emerged in October, following various financial stumbles at Ubisoft, including the lower-than-expected performance of Star Wars Outlaws. A minority shareholder even called for Ubisoft to go private after the publisher's share price fell drastically in the wake of Outlaws' launch.

In September, Ubisoft reduced its financial targets for the current year, delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows to February 2025, and kicked off an internal review into how to improve the company's performance.

Like many companies in the games industry, Ubisoft has also been downsizing. Last week it announced the closure of two studios attached to XDefiant, which is shutting down next year. Back in October, it also disbanded the team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.