While a full acquisition of the French developer Ubisoft never fully manifested for Electronic Arts, its purchase and gradual increases in stock for the company has been a major source of revenue for the team. However, according to a report filed by Bloomberg, the mega-publisher has since decided to sell off its 15% share in the company (at a reported value of $122 million), leading to rampant speculation on which company could swoop in to claim the largest chunk of the company. The most likely contender, Activision Blizzard, has released general statements seeming to indicate no interest on their part.
Ubisoft has since released a statement on the matter, saying “On July 16th 2010, Electronic Arts (EA) put up all of its Ubisoft shares for sale on the market. Even if the shareholder relationship with Electronic Arts has been good and EA has consistently voted in support of our strategy, we feel that this transaction is in Ubisoft’s best interest. As one of the world’s leading independent video game creators, we pursue our strategy of creating quality, innovative games across all segments of the market. Earlier this month, Ubisoft announced estimated sales for Q1 exceeded expectations and confirmed its previous forecast for the full year 2010-11 of an expected return to profitable growth and positive cash flow from operating activities.”