The 3,497,049 shares of Ubisoft, purchased from the previous shareholders, Talpa Beheer, were obtained for a price of 19.69 euros ($25.52) per share. The purchase took place in late December of 2004. Today, Ubisoft shares closed at 31.53 euros ($40.87) on the Paris Exchange, giving Electronic Arts a paper profit of more than $52 million. United States-based Electronics Arts has yet to specify how it would leverage its new ownership stake in one of its fiercest competitors.
Curt Feldman reported for GameSpot.