Cleary Gottlieb represented Gameloft, a leading global mobile-gaming company, in a hostile tender offer by Vivendi, the French media conglomerate.
On February 18, 2016, Vivendi filed a hostile tender offer for Gameloft following the acquisition of more than 30 percent of the share capital of Gameloft by Vivendi under circumstances that have been challenged by Gameloft before the Paris Court of Appeals.
Initially, the price of the hostile tender offer was €6 per Gameloft share. It was increased by Vivendi to €7.20 and then €8 per share, or a total of €700 million for 100 percent of the Gameloft shares. This price represents a 46 percent premium above Gameloft’s closing price on February 18, 2016.
Following completion of the tender offer on June 15, 2016, Vivendi held more than 95 percent of the share capital and voting rights of Gameloft, and it announced the implementation of a squeeze-out on July 26, 2016.
Gameloft is a worldwide leader in video games on mobile platforms, with 2 million games downloaded per day. Gameloft was founded by the Guillemot family, who also created Ubisoft, a leading global video-gaming company.
Vivendi is an integrated media and content group. The company operates businesses throughout the media value chain, from talent discovery to the creation, production and distribution of content. The main subsidiaries of Vivendi comprise Canal+ Group and Universal Music Group.