Vivendi Names Stephane Roussel CEO of Gameloft

By Nick Kostov 

PARIS -- Vivendi SA Wednesday named one of its top executives as Chief Executive of Gameloft SE, weeks after prevailing in its efforts to gain control of the French videogame publisher.

Vivendi Chief Operating Officer Stephane Roussel, who will also be chairman, is among five members named by Vivendi to the board of Gameloft, a company known for making games for mobile phones.

"We intend to mobilize our expertise to develop franchises from Gameloft, its partners and from Vivendi, and deploy them as widely as possible," Mr. Roussel said in a letter to Gameloft employees. "You will be fully-integrated member of the Vivendi family while maintaining your distinctiveness and originality."

Vivendi, run by billionaire businessman Vincent Bolloré, is seeking to transform itself from a holding company with interests in a variety of sectors to an integrated media company with a focus on Southern Europe. It has made videogames a key focus of the transformation, also building a more than 20% stake in Gameloft's larger sister company Ubisoft Entertainment SA, which is known for franchises including "Assassin's Creed" and "The Division".

Earlier on Wednesday, Gameloft's board resigned, saying it disagreed with Vivendi's strategic vision and management methods. Management at both Gameloft and Ubisoft have been fighting off Vivendi for months, saying it doesn't know the videogame business and would destroy shareholder value.

Write to Nick Kostov at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2016 13:46 ET (17:46 GMT)

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