Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

Page 411

Having made this judgment, Su Shanshan seamlessly changed her attitude. She knew very well that in such negotiations, any detail that showed urgency could cause problems.

So instead of urging her, she deliberately downplayed the time.

He poured water for everyone, creating the impression that they could still talk things over.

"It's a great thing that Ubisoft and Starfire have the opportunity to collaborate."

As Lin Li spoke, he organized his thoughts.

As someone who came later, he simply didn't believe Guillermo del Toro's claim that the penguins had offered $6 million, after all, penguins' money didn't come from thin air.

In its previous life, even the penguin, which was a sucker, only spent 4.5 million US dollars.

With some additional intelligence, he could be 100% certain that Guillermo del Toro was bluffing.

Therefore, Lin Li did not respond at all.

Instead, he started talking about his own views, while also thinking about the final price.

In fact, Lin Li had planned to buy Ubisoft shares a long time ago.

The best time to make a move was actually in 17.

However, in 17, Linli moved all its products to Douyin, so there was no money to withdraw from it.

On one side is Ubisoft, and on the other is TikTok.

The scales are not balanced.

Therefore, Lin Li's stake in Ubisoft is only a plan.

It was 18.

Lin Licai gradually started paying attention to Ubisoft. Some time ago, during the recording of "Rising Stars", he took the initiative to mention it when chatting with senior executives of Ubisoft China.

They weren't very proactive.

The reason Lin Li didn't ask proactively is the same as when it comes to dating.

The reasons for the love war in "Kaguya-sama: Love Is War" are dramatic.

However, in business negotiations, the party that takes the initiative is indeed relatively passive.

In order to avoid being too passive during this rare opportunity, Lin Licai chose to use a roundabout approach.

of course.

If it doesn't work, Lin Li will still take the initiative to ask Ubisoft.

However, judging from the results, his tactic was effective; Ubisoft initiated the negotiations.

This gave Lin Li a very rare opportunity to purchase a large amount of shares.

Yes.

The world's leading game companies.

It's easy to buy individual shares, but it's very difficult to become a major shareholder.

Ubisoft is willing to pledge its shares this time.

There are also very unique historical opportunities.

Chapter 499 Spark, Very Rich

The story begins with the Ubisoft acquisition crisis.

Three years ago, in 15, Vivendi, the company that destroyed Blizzard North and became infamous in the industry, began its ongoing hostile takeover bid for Ubisoft.

In 16, Vivendi first acquired Ubisoft subsidiary Gameloft, and subsequently held more than 20% of Ubisoft's shares, at its peak holding more than 27%.

Under French law, Vivendi can launch a forced takeover if it holds more than 30% of Ubisoft's shares.

So Ubisoft was in a really bad situation at that time.

For two years, from 17 to 18, Ubisoft was constantly caught in a tug-of-war.

Until last month.

This long and drawn-out battle has finally come to a conclusion.

After its acquisition failed, Vivendi reached an agreement with Ubisoft, agreeing to sell all of its Ubisoft shares.

Faced with this good news, Ubisoft executives were in a dilemma.

Because while Vivendi is willing to sell its shares, it is unwilling to sell them at a low price; in fact, the shares are sold at a premium.

It's all about whether you want it or not.

No, then I'll hold this position, ready to make a comeback at any time.

Ubisoft, of course, wouldn't dare to gamble.

You can only take money.

However, after two years of wrangling, Ubisoft simply couldn't come up with that much money.

After Ubisoft bought back its shares from Vivendi through bank loans and by tightening its belt, it was incredibly poor.

The debt is enormous; the interest alone is an astronomical figure.

Therefore, after redeeming its shares, Ubisoft quickly transformed into a salesman, seeking buyers worldwide to pledge its shares and alleviate the pressure.

In its previous life, it was at this time that Penguin acquired a 5% stake in Ubisoft for $4.52 million and formed a strategic partnership with Ubisoft.

And on this world line.

Ubisoft initially planned to work with Penguin as well.

However, when the information reached Ubisoft China...

Ubisoft China executives had communicated extensively with Lin Li because of the previous "Rising Star" program and felt that Spark was also a potential buyer.

So he gave his suggestions to Ubisoft headquarters.

Why not ask Xinghuo?

"Compared to Penguin, Spark is a better fit for Ubisoft globally, whether in terms of mobile games, platforms, or brand image."

When the people at Ubisoft headquarters heard this...

Makes sense.

The only question is...

"Does Spark have the money? How many Ubisoft shares can it buy?"

The latter one, Ubisoft China doesn't know.

But the former, a Ubisoft executive who had just participated in the Rising Stars program recalled that he stayed in a five-star hotel when the program was filmed, and then thought about how Spark even rented several floors of office space specifically for the "training camp".

Just replied directly.

"Can we remove that 'ma'? Spark has money!"

After setting aside the issue of money, Ubisoft executives were genuinely tempted.

Since the shares are going to be sold anyway, selling them to a company that can complement Ubisoft would undoubtedly be better.

This is also beneficial for Ubisoft.

then.

Before Lin Li could estimate the time and take the initiative to ask, Ubisoft called to inquire whether Spark had any intention of subscribing to shares.

Lin Li gained the upper hand in the negotiations.

~~~

Following that, Spark and Ubisoft communicated rapidly over a period of ten days and quickly reached a series of consensuses.

Ubisoft also happens to be participating in E3.

Therefore, the executives of both parties made a decision.

Negotiations are taking place in Los Angeles.

Because the previous communication had been pleasant, Guillermot was originally very confident that he could quickly end the battle.

Even on his way there, he joked with the people from Spark, saying that if things went well, he would be on the stage at Spark's E3 pre-show.

It will definitely attract a lot of media coverage at that time.

pity.

When the executives from both sides actually arrived in Los Angeles and began negotiations on specific matters, the talks reached a stalemate.

a whole day.

Lin Li and Gilmott discussed Ubisoft's development, Ubisoft's future, and then Spark's development and Spark's future.

He rambled on about a lot of random things.

Guillermo del Toro admired Lin Li's eloquence.

He also largely agreed with what Lin Li said.

But when it comes to negotiating prices, things get stuck, and that stalemate has lasted until now.

The reason for the stalemate.

In Guillermo del Toro's view, it was still a matter of money.

Therefore, he kept expressing this to Lin Li.

$9 million is Ubisoft's bottom line; it cannot be lowered.

They even used penguins as a shield.

In fact, Penguin has only made an indicative offer of $4 million so far.

And the other side.

Lin Li kept insisting on the price.

It's not because we can't afford the money.

Rather, it was to achieve another purpose.

After all, Xinghuo has no shortage of money.

If they were truly short of money, they wouldn't have offered to buy 10% of Ubisoft's shares just to lure them in.

The 10% stake is precisely the maximum single shareholder that Ubisoft can accept, while also limiting the share that Ubisoft currently needs.

In short, once Ubisoft secures this deal, it won't need to raise any more money, can immediately resolve its three-year-long dispute with Vivendi, and regain its complete freedom.

“Mr. Guillermot, $9 million is no small sum, especially considering it's cash flow…”

Lin Li looked worried and distressed.

It seems that $9 million is a very difficult expense for Spark.

But what exactly does $9 million mean for Spark now?

In its previous life, FGO's net profit for the entire year of 2018 was approximately $8 million to $9 million.

However, in this timeline, Spark's gains are significantly higher.

On one hand, FGO is of better quality than its predecessor, and its operation and reputation on servers around the world are better.

Secondly, the revenue of the Chinese version of FGO, which is under Xinghuo's control, is incomparable to that of the Chinese version of DEWORD, which was left to its own devices, due to the different agency agreement and operation strategy.

In addition, the widespread adoption of the Spark platform on PC and the coupons attracted many users to recharge on PC, which is Spark's own channel.

This reduces some of the commission rates charged by Apple and Google.

This series of events ultimately translates into reality: although the revenue of FGO and its predecessor only increased by about 15%, the actual profit increased by about 25%.

Especially in July 2018.

Thanks to the Summer Spark event, the incomprehensible spending of Japanese players, and the widespread use of the Spark platform for in-game purchases, this phenomenon only occurred from January to July.

FGO has already brought Spark approximately $9 million in profits.

can only say.