Mark Androvich
20:33 (BST)
17/12/2007
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Assassin's Creed success may fend off EA takeover
Market value now .3 billion
The success of Assassin's Creed may help Ubisoft fend off an EA takeover by increasing the company's value.
As noted by a Financial Times article, Ubisoft has long been regarded a target of EA, which bought an unsolicited 19.6 per cent stake in the company three years ago.
Last year, Ubisoft suggested that a takeover by EA would be dangerous because it "could kill creativity."
Ubisoft diluted EA's stake to 15.4 per cent through a series of poison pills, yet the takeover risk has not subsided.
The recent success of Assassin's Creed, however, has helped Ubisoft increase its market value to 3 billion Euro (USD 4.3 billion), making it a much more expensive target should EA still have takeover plans.
With Vivendi's recent acquisition of Activision, EA is no longer the largest publisher in the videogames industry. Most analysts believe that the recent spate of mergers and acquisitions will is only the beginning.
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