A few days after closing XDefiant and laying off hundreds of employees, Ubisoft is reportedly considering how to structure a Tencent buyout without the Guillemot family losing control

Ubisoft’s share price soared today as rumors intensified that Chinese mega-corporation Tencent is in takeover talks.

The company behind Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six Siege has had a torrid year with multiple studio closures, mass layoffs and game shutdowns. The company’s next big game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, was delayed until 2025 and Star Wars Outlaws failed to meet sales expectations.

According to Reuters, Ubisoft shareholders are “considering” how to structure a possible takeover of the French company without restricting the control of the founding Guillemot family. The Guillemot family is Ubisoft’s largest shareholder and is reportedly in talks with Tencent and “other investors” to seek funding for a management buyout. Tencent is Ubisoft’s second-largest shareholder with 10% and has yet to decide how to finance the acquisition, according to Reuters.

Reuters said Tencent’s indecision was “partly due to the company demanding a greater say in future board decisions, including cash flow distribution, in return for funding the deal.” Apparently the Guillemot family has yet to agree to these terms, but Tencent is willing to wait for them to prevail.

Tencent declined to comment when contacted by Reuters because a representative for the Guillemot family did not respond. However, a Ubisoft spokesperson said: “We remain committed to making decisions in the best interests of all our stakeholders. As we have already indicated, the company is also examining all of its strategic options in this context.”

Ubisoft shares fell to their lowest level in a decade in September after the company made a series of dramatic announcements about the performance of its games. In addition to delaying Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft also announced a return to Steam after the game was a PC exclusive on the Epic Games Store for a while. Star Wars Outlaws was recently released on Valve’s platform.

This latest news comes hot on the heels of Ubisoft’s announcement that it would close Call of Duty competitor XDefiant and its production studios in San Francisco and Osaka, while downsizing its Sydney location, with up to 277 employees losing their jobs. Approximately half of the XDefiant team will be assigned roles elsewhere.

Ubisoft shares rose 12.52% today, December 6, following the Tencent acquisition reports.

Wesley is the UK news editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].