French publishing giant Ubisoft is reportedly looking to partner with a private equity firm to buy out the company.

That's according to Dealreporter – as spotted by Seeking Alpha – which claims that the Guillemot family is trying to oppose a potential acquisition of the games firm.

The Guillemot family founded Ubisoft back in 1986 and currently owns 15.9 per cent of the company's shares, as well as 22.3 per cent of voting shares. It seems that the Guillemots are hoping that executing such a partnership would help them keep control of the company.

This news comes in the wake of a report that "several equity firms" such as Blackstone and KKR are looking to buy Ubisoft. Stock increased 11 per cent upon that news and has since risen by another 10 per cent on the news that Ubisoft might partner with a private equity firm to keep control of Ubisoft.

This isn't the only time that the Guillemots have had to fight to maintain control of their company. Back in 2018, Ubisoft managed to fend off a hostile takeover French conglomerate Vivendi that had been slowly coming for years.

Disclaimer: Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who has worked with Ubisoft on projects in the past.