Born to be Wireless

Ubisoft Entertainment has sold its 18.89 percent stake in French mobile gaming firm Gameloft reports AFX. The final sale price for the 13.37 million shares was 6.08 Euro per share, for a total of about $111 million. to Credit Agricole's corporate and investment bank unit Calyon, and has signed an equity swap deal with the bank,

Under the equity swap agreement, Calyon has 24 months to sell the Gameloft shares on the market. Any changes in the Gameloft share price will then be recorded by Ubisoft, so the deal will only affect Ubisoft's income statement when Calyon sells the Gameloft shares. Ubisoft said the equity swap enables it to stagger the placement of the Gameloft shares so that Ubisoft can keep benefiting from the company's development potential over the next two years.

The two companies said they will continue to collaborate, especially when it comes to utilizing Ubisoft's brands on mobile phones. More info in release.

Mobile-Ent: The move ends an historic association that began when Gameloft was created as a wholly owned subsidiary of the French company in 1999. Over the years its stake has reduced to just under 20 per cent, although the Guillemot brothers that founded Ubisoft retain a private holding. More on Gameloft's history in this Wikipedia entry.

source: MoCoNews

Labels: acquisition, gameloft