Pachter: Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy Deal Worth $94m

Author: by David Jenkins, Leigh Alexander

In his latest note to investors, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter commented on Ubisoft’s recently-announced acquisition of the Tom Clancy name, estimating "the purchase price was approximately €60 million ($94 million)," though Ubisoft declined to confirm exactly how much it had paid for the brand. Additionally, Pachter suggested the total price would be "paid over three years with potential earn outs up to approximately another €15 million ($23 million)." Ubisoft has already stated that the removal of the need for royalty payments on future games will generate new income of €5 ($7.7m) per year. The deal was first announced last week, with Ubisoft officials stating only that an initial payment of €20 million ($30m) was being made in the current fiscal year. The lack of continued royalty payments for future titles has also enabled the company to talk openly of a Tom Clancy themed massively multiplayer online game for the first time, as well as a crossover between the various games - which Ubisoft head Yves Guillemot compared as similar in scope to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros.