The collaboration between Activision Blizzard and Vivendi seem to be over. Recently Vivendi sold their last shares in Activision for a whoppin' $1.1 billion USD.
Those of you with long memories may remember that Vivendi bought up the majority of Activision in 2007 for the princely sum of $18.9 billion, which gave them power over the publisher for around six years. In 2013, however, the company behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft chose to buy back most of its independence with the repurchase of 429 million shares (to the tune of $8 billion).
So why would Ubisoft be worried about this recent turn of events? In October Vivendi bought up around ten percent of the publisher and the creative French company appeared to be unhappy about the move, with Yves Guillemot calling the deal "unwelcome" at the time. Might Vivendi now look to expand their stake in Ubisoft?
According to Ubisoft boss Guillemot, they don't want to be controlled by a parent company who doesn't understand their expertise and what it is that makes them successful in the gaming industry, and it certainly sounds like they'll "fight" another move from Vivendi to secure more shares.
Thanks, VG247.