UBISOFT ACQUIRES THE TOM CLANCY NAME FOR VIDEO GAMES, RELATED
SAN FRANCISCO ? March 20, 2008 ? Today, Ubisoft, one of the world's large=
st video game publishers, announces that it has concluded an agreement wi=
th 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.=20
The price of this all cash acquisition is not currently disclosed. Post a=
cquisition, Ubisoft expects to have a net cash position of around 130 mil=
lion Euros by the end of fiscal 2007-08, compared to a previous expectati=
on of approximately 150 million Euros. Additional payments will be made a=
s well in fiscal 2008-09 and fiscal 2009-10.=20
On the basis of past performance of Tom Clancy branded video games, and e=
xcluding any potential contribution coming from sales of ancillary produc=
ts, the royalty savings generated by this acquisition are estimated to ha=
ve 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, su=
ch as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, and Tom Clanc=
y's Rainbow Six, today, acquiring the perpetual property rights of the To=
m Clancy name for video games and related projects is a major event,? sta=
ted Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer at Ubisoft. "The future of o=
ur industry lies in our capacity to create and develop brands that captiv=
ate consumers and that present a myriad of opportunities for the full spe=
ctrum 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 crea=
tion 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 Ficti=
on bestseller list for the last four weeks. Capitalizing on the strong fr=
anchises that we've built over the past 10 years, we will take the Tom Cl=
ancy game brand to the next level of the global entertainment industry."
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