An EA Takeover Couldn`t Be Stopped – Guillemot News
Jon Wilcox
22/09/2005
Ubisoft chief admits to French newspaper that hostile action from Electronic Arts couldn`t be stopped...
In an article with the French newspaper Les Echos, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has said that if Electronic Arts (who now have around a 20% stake in the French based publisher/developer) were to initiate a hostile takeover, the company would be powerless to stop it.
Though that might be the case, Mr Guillemot isnât quite succumbing to the threat from the US giant; due to a series of successes for Ubisoft in recent times the CEO remarked that â[Ubisoft had] clearly demonstrated its value to industry players,â which would mean that its shareholders wouldnât accept a low price for the firm and that any deal wouldnât be cheap.
Seven months on since EA first took a slice of the Ubisoft cake, Mr Guillemotâs comments yesterday did affect his companyâs shares, increasing by 1.36 Euro (£0.92) to 42.40 Euros (£28.68) a share. Whether his comments were designed to stave off any undisclosed attempts by EA to begin a takeover is of course unknown, but weâll have more news shortlyâ¦