Shares in Ubisoft Entertainment rose by as much as 5% this morning after the video game maker issued a statement saying it was reviewing its strategic options.
Ubisoft said today it "regularly reviews all its strategic options" after Bloomberg News on Friday reported that major shareholder Tencent and the Guillemot family, Ubisoft's founders, were considering a buyout of the French video game company.
Ubisoft said it would inform the market if and when appropriate.
Shares in the maker of "Assassin's Creed" had surged over 30% on Friday after the Bloomberg report.
The Guillemot family owns 15% of the company, while Chinese gaming giant Tencent owns just under 10%, according to LSEG data.
Ubisoft's stock was down 54% for the year at Thursday's close, as the game maker cut its guidance and postponed the release of "Assassin's Creed Shadows" by three months.
It also is facing pressure from activist investor AJ Investments, who called for a CEO change and urged it to go private or be sold and said last week it has gathered support from 10% of its shareholders.
Midcap Partners analyst Charles-Louis Planade said it was not surprising that Ubisoft was attracting interest.
"Ubisoft is clearly a unique asset in the sector, and a number of major players have tried to penetrate the open-world action/adventure genre that Ubisoft has mastered to perfection," he said.
