PR: Ubisoft Acquires the Tom Clancy Name for Video Games, Related Books, Movies and Merchandising
SAN FRANCISCO – March 20, 2008 – Today, Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, announces that it has concluded an agreement with Mr. Tom Clancy to acquire all intellectual property rights to the Tom Clancy name, on a perpetual basis and free of all related future royalty payments, for use in video games and ancillary products including related books, movies and merchandising products.
The price of this all cash acquisition is not currently disclosed. Post acquisition, Ubisoft expects to have a net cash position of around 130 million Euros by the end of fiscal 2007-08, compared to a previous expectation of approximately 150 million Euros. Additional payments will be made as well in fiscal 2008-09 and fiscal 2009-10.
{default}On the basis of past performance of Tom Clancy branded video games, and excluding any potential contribution coming from sales of ancillary products, the royalty savings generated by this acquisition are estimated to have an average positive impact on Ubisoft’s operating income of a minimum of 5 million Euros per year.
"After ten years of a highly successful collaboration which has seen the creation of blockbusters that set standards in the videogame industry, such as Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, today, acquiring the perpetual property rights of the Tom Clancy name for video games and related projects is a major event,” stated Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer at Ubisoft. "The future of our industry lies in our capacity to create and develop brands that captivate consumers and that present a myriad of opportunities for the full spectrum of entertainment, be it video games, books, movies or other media. The Tom Clancy brand is recognized around the world for offering exciting video games, films and books. The most recent example of such value creation through brand management is the EndWar book, based on the video game story, which has been in the NY Times top 10 Paperback Mass Market Fiction bestseller list for the last four weeks. Capitalizing on the strong franchises that we’ve built over the past 10 years, we will take the Tom Clancy game brand to the next level of the global entertainment industry."
CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS
The management of Ubisoft will host a conference call today at 6:15PM (Paris Local Time) to discuss this announcement. An audio web cast will be available live & replay until March 20, 2009 at www.ubisoftgroup.com/ir
Disclaimer
This statement may contain estimated financial data, information on future projects and transactions and future business results/performance. Such forward-looking data are provided for estimation purposes only. They are subject to market risks and uncertainties and may vary significantly compared with the actual results that will be published. The estimated financial data have been presented to the Board of Directors and have not been audited by the Statutory Auditors. (Additional information is specified in the most recent Ubisoft Registration Document filed on June 27, 2007 with the French Financial Markets Authority (l’Autorité des marchés financiers)).
