Vivendi makes takeover bid for Gameloft

News Wireless Global 18 FEB 2016
Vivendi makes takeover bid for Gameloft

Vivendi has announced a takeover bid for Gameloft, after building up a 30 percent stake in the mobile games publisher. The offer of EUR 6 per share represents a premium of 50 percent on Gameloft's share price 14 October 2015, the day prior to Vivendi first disclosing a stake in the company and a premium of 23 percent over the weighted average share price over the past six months. Vivendi said the acquisition of Gameloft supports its strategy to expand in the content and media sectors. 

The bid is expected to face opposition from the Guillemot family, which founded Gameloft and is its second-largest shareholder. The family has been increasing its stake since Vivendi started acquiring shares last autumn. Its most recent disclosure gave it 19 percent of the equity and over 27 percent of the voting rights in Gameloft. 

Gameloft said in a statement that it learned through the suspension of trading of its shares that Vivendi had filed the hostile takeover bid. The company convened a management board meeting for next week and said it would not comment until after the board has met. 

Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

Gameloft,  Vivendi

Regions:

Global

Countries:

France

Tags:

Games, M&A buyouts & divestments

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