[Update: Assassin’s Creed maker says EA move “is in Ubisoft’s best interest”]
French publisher Ubisoft’s largest shareholder, Electronic Arts, is reportedly set to sell its stake in the Assassin’s Creed maker.
US-based EA will offload its 15 per cent stake in Europe’s largest games producer, according to terms obtained by Bloomberg.
Bookruner UBS AG is placing 14 million Ubisoft shares at a price range of 6.48 euros to market, the site reports.
Ubisoft shares fell 3.2 per cent to 6.97 euros in Paris yesterday.
We've contacted both companies for comment.
Ubisoft has confirmed the news and provided us with the following statement:
"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 that 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."