In the past month, Ubisoft's stock has plummeted. It has not been this low since 2014, and investors are pleading for action. One investor has even suggested that Ubisoft are deliberately driving the price down...
The value of Ubisoft fell substantially in September 2024, and investors, who are worried about "current management and direction", are making open pleas for change. Now, one investor is accusing the Guillemot family (who founded Ubisoft) of deliberately driving the price down so that they can buy back shares and control the company again.
Self-Sabotage at Ubisoft?
AJ Investments, which owns less than 1% of Ubisoft, has written an open letter to the company after their share price fell to its lowest point in over ten years. Ubisoft has been on a downward trend for a while, but 2024 has been especially difficult due to the relative failure of XDefiant and Star Wars: Outlaws (read our review here), and the delay of Rainbow Six Mobile and Tom Clancy's The Division Resurgence to next year.
In the open letter, AJ Investment actually goes one step further, and accuses the Guillemot family of deliberately driving the price down so that they can buy back more stock:
We believe that the Guillemot family and Tencent are discounting potential value of Ubisoft in order to buy more shares at lower valuation and eventually take full control of the company at heavily discounted valuation.
There is no hard evidence of this, but AJ Investment have pointed to the Guillemot family's acquisition of over four million shares in February 2013, when the stock was also at a record-low. The idea that the family want to buy more shares back to regain control is plausible, but the notion that they would drive the valuation of Ubisoft stock down to achieve this is a little far-fetched.
But the fact that conspiracies like this are being seriously suggested at all speaks volumes. Clearly, something needs to change at Ubisoft.
Do you think there's any truth to this accusation? And if not, what is the answer for Ubisoft?