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CD Projekt may be preparing to defend against a hostile takeover
- Thread starter boskee
- Start date
Obliterator
Member
True but WB was also the distributor for Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition in NA and have obviously shown interest in CD Projekt in the past. Also WB are pretty bullish on joining the Big 4 and becoming a top tier publisher. If they owned stake in CDPR they would be a dead lock imo.
Either way this is likely some investment firm, which people should be a lot more afraid of.
None of us should be surprised either. If you look at CDPR growth that isn't the sort of thing that flies under the radar. You blow up like that while being a public company and its going to draw major purchasing interest
Well, let's see what the quarterly report says. If there is indeed someone who is interested in an acquisition I'll bet it's someone from outside the industry since there aren't many gaming companies out there who are that liquid to afford a majority stake of 430+ Million Euros.
TheStruggler
Report me for trolling ND/TLoU2 threads
Has WB had their Quarterly Investor Call yet? I don't know a lot about business, but I would think that if a major western publisher was preparing for a hostile takeover, they would have to at least mention it to their investors (which neither EA or Ubisoft did).
ScatheZombie
Member
Those changes don't necessarily only attempt to defend against a hostile takeover. They could also be the first steps in maximizing company value before a buyout and ensuring CD Projekt has a better position at the negotiating table. Consolidation of assets and shares is both something you do to prevent a hostile takeover and one of the first steps you take before a major buyout.
That said, EA has wanted to purchase them in the past. The Witcher and Cyberpunk are two properties that are far enough removed from their Bioware properties that it does make sense (more sense than releasing Battlefield and Titanfall within a week of each other anyway).
And they currently have publishing deals with Namco Bandai and Warner Bros Interactive, though it doesn't seem like either of them have any interest in attempting to buyout or takeover CD Projekt.
Most of the other companies in the poll have shown zero interest in CD Projekt. It's likely either EA or any one of the big Chinese gaming companies - Tencent, Shanda, Giant, etc.
That said, EA has wanted to purchase them in the past. The Witcher and Cyberpunk are two properties that are far enough removed from their Bioware properties that it does make sense (more sense than releasing Battlefield and Titanfall within a week of each other anyway).
And they currently have publishing deals with Namco Bandai and Warner Bros Interactive, though it doesn't seem like either of them have any interest in attempting to buyout or takeover CD Projekt.
Most of the other companies in the poll have shown zero interest in CD Projekt. It's likely either EA or any one of the big Chinese gaming companies - Tencent, Shanda, Giant, etc.
True. Hence why it makes sense to do what CDPR is about to do
It's highly unlikely that any takeover will take place and co-founders + employees already hold some ~35-40% of shares.Good for Bioware or good for EA? Bioware hasn't even made a blip on the lexicon of gaming in over 5 years.
My argument was predicted on the health of Bioware, not EA's profit margins. A hostile takeover would likely see a similar end result for CD Project, target different demographics and massive talent bleed.
Obliterator
Member
Well that is....really interesting. I wonder if there is an incredibly slim chance they have a buyer in mind and this isn't hostile after all
Vic_Viper
Member
EA is just trying to aqciure a good studio for once that can make a great game and still make a huge profit. The big fear of this is they try and annualize the Witch franchise and ruin everything great about CDPR. Look at all the free DLC they gave to owners of Witcher 2 and 3. Huge updates that would have been pay for anywhere else.
If anything, I see a huge portion of the team leave to make a new studio if this deal goes through. Just please finish Cyberpunk!
If anything, I see a huge portion of the team leave to make a new studio if this deal goes through. Just please finish Cyberpunk!
scarybore
Member
Strikes me as odd as they don't own either the Witcher or Cyberpunk IP, and thus you are buying a studio where the talent can easily leave after buyout, and I doubt GOG is a massive moneymaker.
Hopefully they are just thinking long term rather than facing an immediate takeover threat, they single handedly restored by faith in RPGs nearly 10 years ago so I would hate to see them fucked over.
Hopefully they are just thinking long term rather than facing an immediate takeover threat, they single handedly restored by faith in RPGs nearly 10 years ago so I would hate to see them fucked over.
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Yeah, when I read your post it was actually talking about being well prepared if these situation came along.
I think is good news they try to have the upperhand beforw its too late.
Your argument's definition of BioWare's health is misplaced wish fulfillment that what's bad for your gaming preferences is also bad for BioWare. Meanwhile Mass Effect 3 is the best-selling Mass Effect game, and Dragon Age: Inquisition had BioWare's most successful launch ever. I don't need to mention, again, that BioWare almost bankrupted itself before EA ever became involved. Now it has over 800 employees.
Linking to a NeoGAF thread proves as much as me linking to DAI's reader's choice GOTY awards: not much at all.
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Be careful, you may cut when using that edge.
johancruijff
Banned
Farewell
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
what the hell, man. not cool.
Rexatality
Member
Translation: "I didn't like Witcher 3, so I want them to be bought and get fucked over by their owners"
lordfuzzybutt
Member
People like you are the reason we can't have nice things.
I'm not sure if you understand what hostile takeover means.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Greedy fucking publisher keep your filthy paws off my fucking cdprojektred my sweet baby
Robot Pants
Member
Agreed. They are the good guys that we need
I thought they owned the witcher IP for video games as far as I know?
GlamFM
Banned
Not saying that VALVe has any interest in this acquisition, but you are underestimating VALVe´s "size".
They are huge.
HUUUUUUUUGE
toastyToast
Member
Aren't they doing pretty well at the moment or is this a case of "more money = better"?
They are private though so their funds are a bit more "secret" but if I remember right Gabe Newell worth is estimated at about 4 billion.
TimeEffect
Member
Er, how does a hostile takeover work? cant CDP say No?
Obliterator
Member
They are doing extremely well at the moment which is exactly why they are a big target for being purchased. They are still small enough to make the purchase not hugely expensive. They also have Gwent about to release and Cyberpunk on the horizon which has the potential to be a huge seller. For the right price I could easily understand why someone would want to pick them up
Freezasaurus
Member
RIP good games.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Yeah if they don't own the IP that's news to me. Partnering with Atari (or whoever it was) for publishing and getting the first game is another story
I'm not arguing whether such a venture would be profitable for a large company, nor am I arguing that those methods aren't monetarily effective. Throwing the widest net possible and streamlining content, narrative, and mechanics are extremely effective. I'm arguing from CD Projects perspective and from their current target market's perspective, which includes GOG.
The changes brought on by EA caused the founders of Bioware to leave the industry entirely along with at least of plurality of talent at Bioware. Along with any chance of Bioware crafting a game that will stand the test of time going forward. The latter is somewhat subjective, but I highly doubt we will be seeing a "LTTP: Dragon Age Inquisition" in a decade.
If Bioware was having money issues at the time, then hats off to them for getting the most money out of the deal before exiting the industry, but CD Project is solvent and largely independent currently.
scarybore
Member
Ah really? I had assumed they just licensed it from Sapkowski, that would make a difference then.
GlamFM
Banned
No, once you are public shareholders can gather and take over.
Not really, hence the name. An investor can go and speak directly to various shareholders and start buying their shares (if they agree). Once they have enough of those shares they can take over. Law varies from country to country. The change proposed by CDP is that if any shareholder collects over 20% of the shares, they then need to buy everything else at once for an acceptable sum or not at all.
Dream_Journey
Member
Buy more Witcher 3 folks...
Mass_Pincup
Banned
It's basically a shareholder increasing the number of shares they have of the company until having the majority of the shares.
Since CDP doesn't own the majority of those shares they can't say no, they can only buy back their shares to prevent anyone to have the majority of CDP's shares. But to do that you need a lot of money, money that CDP may not have.
GlamFM
Banned
Buy more Witcher 3 folks...
That´s not the solution.
"Buy more CDPR shares folks" is more like it.
Admiral Woofington
Member
This is similar to Activision with all of the IPs they had. They could make whatever video game they felt like but it's limited to games since say for example Sony owns the movie rights for spiderman
JuanLatino
Member
Why Why????
stan423321
Member
From my point of view, the entire point of stock market is the possibility of hostile takeovers. Otherwise stock is basically permanent bond. The easy way out is to ignore that sweet stock selling dosh and keep your firm private.
CertifiedFP
Member
Wrong. Before development on TW1 even began, CD Projekt bought the IP completely from Metropolis Software (And then later bought Metropolis), who themselves had bought the IP from Sapkowski back in the 90's.
TimeEffect
Member
Oh that sounds horrible
And also inevitable and just really flawed. What's to stop any rich enough person or company from monopolizing like that?
Agent_4Seven
Tears of Nintendo
It's probably really stupid question but...can they... um, well, stop selling the company shares to prevent takeover or something?