Tencent invests €1.2 billion in Ubisoft spin-offsChinese giant Tencent(HKG:0700) (Ticker AT: TMC.US) has gone further in its expansion in the digital gaming industry by extending its interest in the Ubisoft (EPA:UBI)(Ticker AT:UBI.FR) Spin-Off with a whopping €1.2 billion, in a company currently valued at €4 billion. With this deal, Tencent acquires a 25% stake, while Ubisoft retains control, trying to sustain its position in a particularly difficult year.
The French developer is still in free fall: its shares have lost 33% in the last 12 months , revenues are down by more than a third, and its market capitalization barely reaches €1.7 billion. Not even the expected launch of a new Assassin's Creed has managed to reverse the situation, due to its conflicting use of characters of different races in a historical context that has nothing to do has generated image problems for being considered by the gamer public as excessively unattached to the historical reality of that time.
This financial crisis is compounded by reputational problems. Ubisoft is still embroiled in a legal scandal related to allegations of harassment at the top of its board of directors, which has scared off private investors. In this context, Tencent's capital injection comes as a strategic lifeline, strengthening its position in the sector while taking advantage of the weakness of one of the most iconic European companies in international gaming.
The move reaffirms Tencent's appetite for the video game industry, where it already has stakes in Riot Games, Epic Games and Activision Blizzard , consolidating its dominance in an increasingly competitive market.
On the technical side:
As we commented, the firm has not lost the downtrend of the last 12 months, realizing a loss of 33%, reducing its market capitalization to €1.7 billion. Currently, the stock is trading in a range between €10.480 and €10.610 per share, showing a clear downward trend, which for the moment even Tencent has not been able to undo. On Friday, Ubisoft experienced a price rally, closing the day with a red candle with a very long wick, indicating profit-taking after the rally. It is worth noting the volume of 3.93 million for that session, an exceptional figure considering that during the quarter, trading volume has barely exceeded 1 million in most sessions.
What is worth noting is that the 100-day average has fallen above the 50-day average and the 200-day average is still touching the candle we have indicated, so it is very likely that this trend is reversing. Since the second week of February, the share price has been recovering around 12.4 euros per share. The current price has started the session with a green candle, so we could see a new attempt to extend this downward correction around 12.19 euros per share. If we look at the 4-hour chart, the bullish volume came after the Tencent news, and subsequently the price did not hold and many traders liquidated positions. We will have to see if the news is accompanied with further economic results from the firm to lift the price above the downtrend channel. The RSI indicates 42.36% with a slight oversold level. After correcting in the previous session. We will have to see the evolution in the coming sessions to see if it advances in positive. A current situation in which it seems that the company seems to have touched a price floor and could be a time to enter longs with the new momentum of strong investors leading the Board of Directors of the firm.
The move reaffirms Tencent's appetite for the video game industry, where it already has stakes in Riot Games, Epic Games and Activision Blizzard, consolidating its dominance in an increasingly competitive market.
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