Former Activision owner Vivendi takes stakes in Ubisoft, Gameloft

Vivendi was best known in the game industry as Activision Blizzard's former parent company -- till a 2013 stock buyback saw the publisher go independent from its corporate parent.

Now, the French multinational, which also owns the Universal Music Group, has purchased a 6.6 percent stake in Ubisoft and a 6.2 percent stake in Gameloft. That represents 7.36 million shares of Ubisoft stock at a price of 140.3 million euros ($161 million) and 5.24 million shares of Gameloft stock, for 19.7 million euros ($22.6 million).

After Vivendi finished divesting Activision Blizzard, the company retained a chunk of its stock -- which financial services site Morningstar pegs at 5.71 percent of the company.

Gameloft has hit a bit of a rough patch recently; it's shuttered seven studios and posted a loss for the first half of the year. Ubisoft, meanwhile, appears to be chugging along.