Ubisoft founding family raises stake to ward off Vivendi

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Guillemot family has raised its stake in videogames maker Ubisoft , according to a stock market filing released on Tuesday, as part of their ongoing battle to fend off Vivendi's rival interest in the company. A filing from the AMF stock market regulator said Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family now held 13.6 percent of Ubisoft's share capital, and 20.02 percent of the company's voting rights. Vivendi has also been gradually raising its stake in Ubisoft, best known for its Assassin's Creed and South Park video games, with Vivendi currently holding 27 percent of Ubisoft's share capital and 24.5 percent of the voting rights. Vivendi first bought a stake in Ubisoft in 2015 and raised it in 2016, prompting the Guillemot family to court Canadian investors to fend off any hostile approach. The Guillemot family has also consistently rejected any possibility of such a deal. Ubisoft shares, which hit a record high earlier this week, were down 2.2 percent in early session trading although the stock is still up by around 50 percent since the start of 2017. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Leigh Thomas)