Ubisoft Buys Intellectual Property Rights to The Tom Clancy Name
Ubisoft, one of the worlds 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.
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.
"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 Clancys Splinter Cell, Tom Clancys Ghost Recon, and Tom Clancys 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 weve built over the past 10 years, we will take the Tom Clancy game brand to the next level of the global entertainment industry."
"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 Clancys Splinter Cell, Tom Clancys Ghost Recon, and Tom Clancys 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 weve built over the past 10 years, we will take the Tom Clancy game brand to the next level of the global entertainment industry."
