Ubisoft 2001 Annual Report Download - page 29

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FINANCIAL REPORT
History of the Group
29
2000/2001:
Selective acquisitions
Ubi Soft Entertainment consolidated its international organi-
zation and its portfolio of global brands by acquiring:
■the production studios Sinister Games (United States) and
Grolier Interactive Ltd. (Great Britain);
■Red Storm Entertainment, a US video game publisher with
hits such as the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series, a product
range with total sales of over five million copies;
■Blue Byte Software, a German company that combines
production, publishing and distribution activities for video
games mainly intended for PC. Blue Byte created series
such as: The Settlers Series®and The Battle Isle Series™,
with worldwide sales of 2.7 million units and 650,000 units
respectively up to February 2001;
■the Entertainment Division of The Learning Company. This
acquisition gave the Group exclusive publishing rights to more
than 80 titles, including: Prince of Persia®, Pool of Radiance™,
Chessmaster®, and Myst®, the leading PC adventure game,
with sales of over 10 million copies worldwide.
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS:
Internationalization
In 1989/1990, Ubi Soft opened its first marketing subsidiaries
in Europe (United Kingdom and Germany) and the United
States.
■Internationalization continued rapidly, with the setting up
of marketing subsidiaries and the opening of distribution
offices in Japan and Spain in 1994, Italy in 1995, Australia
in 1996, Hong Kong and Denmark in 1997/1998, and Brazil
in 1999.
■Ubi Soft further strengthened its distribution network with
the purchase in Austria of Gamebusters (March 2000) and
in Italy of 3D Planet SpA (July 2000). The group has also
taken over the distribution of software from the Guillemot
Corporation in Germany (May 2000), France (January
2001), Holland (March 2001), Belgium and Canada (April
2001).
In-house creative resources
■First in-house production studios set up in 1994 in Montreuil,
then Rumania.
■New production units in China (Shanghai) in 1996
and 1997, followed by Quebec (Montreal) and Morocco
(Casablanca).
■New design and production facilities in Barcelona, and Milan
in 1999/2000.
■Production capacity increased by the acquisitions made
in 2000/2001.
Catalogue enhanced by publishing
and prestigious licensing agreements.
■1991: The company negotiated its first licensing agreements
with prestigious firms (Electronic Arts, Sierra, LucasArts
etc.) and well-known personalities (Kick Off with Jean-Pierre
Papin, Eric Cantona Football Challenge).
■1997/1998: Agreement signed with Playmobil®for the
exclusive development of virtual adventures of the firm's
well-known characters.
■Ubi Soft adopted a product range-based philosophy,
releasing such products as the best-selling F1 Racing
Simulation, the first in a line of Formula 1 racing games.
■1999/2000: Numerous licenses signed with organizations
such as Disney, Warner Brothers and Sony Pictures.
■2000/2001: licensing and publishing agreements with
Crave Entertainment, Sony Online Entertainment/Verant,
Sony Pictures, In Utero™, Codemasters and Capcom.