Tencent Holdings plans to raise its stake in French video game group Ubisoft Entertainment as the Chinese gaming giant pivots to the global gaming market, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
South African markets keep an eye on deals in Tencent as e-commerce giants Naspers and Prosus hold a large stake in the Chinese giant.
China's largest social network and gaming firm, which bought a 5 percent stake in Ubisoft in 2018, has reached out to the French firm's founding Guillemot family and expressed interest in increasing its stake in the firm, the sources said.
It is not clear how much more Tencent wants to own in Ubisoft, valued at $5.3 billion (R89bn), but Tencent aims to become the single largest shareholder of the French company with an additional stake purchase, two of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Tencent is hoping to buy a part of the additional stake in Ubisoft, the maker of the blockbuster Assassin's Creed video game franchise, from the Guillemot family, which owns 15 percent of the firm, three of the sources said.
Details of the deal are not yet finalised and are subject to change, the sources said.
Tencent will also seek to acquire shares from public shareholders of Ubisoft, two of the sources said, in a bid to boost its ownership and become the single-largest shareholder.
About 80 percent of the French firm's shares are owned by public shareholders, according to its latest annual report.
Tencent and Ubisoft declined to comment.
- Reuters