Vivendi buys more stock in the two publishers with an eye toward "a strategic vision of operational convergence" -- just days after Ubisoft management called the initial buy "unsolicited and unwelcome."
French media conglomerate and former Activision Blizzard owner Vivendi has upped its stakes in Ubisoft and Gameloft to 10.39 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively. The company revealed it spent 244 million euros acquiring that stake in Ubisoft, and a further 34.41 million euros on the Gameloft buy.
The news comes just a week after the company announced its first purchase of the two companies' stock.
It also comes in the wake of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot calling the move on Vivendi's part "unsolicited and unwelcome" and pledging a "fight to preserve our independence" should the company move to affect how Ubisoft conducts its business.
That fight may come. In the press release announcing the purchase, Vivendi specified that the investments are "part of a strategic vision of operational convergence between Vivendi’s content and platforms on one hand and the Ubisoft and Gameloft productions in video games on the other."
It also alluded to a potential aim to increase its stake in the two game companies, with an overall goal to get onto the companies' boards of directors "in due time."
After Activision Blizzard went independent, Vivendi divested itself of the lion's share of its stock in the company; it now owns under 6 percent of the publisher.
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