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Vivendi a step closer to taking control of Gameloft

Reuters
The Vivendi logo is pictured at the main entrance of the entertainment-to-telecoms conglomerate headquarters in Paris, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwénaëlle Barzic

PARIS (Reuters) - French media group Vivendi was a step closer to taking control of Gameloft on Friday after U.S.-based hedge fund Amber Capital agreed to tender its entire stake in the mobile video games maker.

Vivendi raised an unsolicited bid for Gameloft for the second time on Thursday.

Together, Vivendi and Amber hold close to 44 percent of Gameloft, twice more than the founding Guillemot family, which strongly opposes Vivendi's bid, scheduled to end on May 27.

As of April 21, Amber held 14.62 percent of Gameloft's shares and 13.17 percent of voting rights. Vivendi said on Thursday it held 29.37 percent of Gameloft shares and 26.47 percent of voting rights.

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Amber's decision was made public in a statement issued by the French markets regulator AMF on Friday. Spokesmen for Gameloft and Vivendi declined to comment. A spoksesperson for Amber was not immediately available for comment.

Gameloft shares had risen by more than 11 percent at 1120 GMT.

The media group, led by billionaire Vincent Bollore, increased its tender offer to 8 euros a share on Thursday from 7.20 euros previously. This values Gameloft at about 680 million euros (523 million pounds), compared with 610 million previously.

Vivendi launched its bid in February and has simultaneously built up a 17.7 percent stake in Ubisoft, Gameloft's bigger sister company.

Both moves are considered hostile by the Guillemot family, which founded both companies and control their respective boards.

Vivendi, which has refocused its business around Universal Music Group and pay-TV business Canal+ Group, wants to re-enter the video games business to boost its position in the content and media sector, having disposed of Activision Blizzard in 2013 to reduce its debt pile.

Gameloft lost an appeal to suspend Vivendi's tender offer this month, French markets regulator AMF said, setting May 27 as the deadline for a bid.

The video game maker had filed a request to suspend the bid so that a separate complaint related to the takeover offer by Vivendi could be examined. That second legal procedure is still ongoing.

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic, Editing by Dominique Vidalon)