Games publisher Electronic Arts has announced that is to buy almost 20 per cent of French games company Ubi Soft Entertainment.
Shares in Ubi Soft jumped 24 per cent after the news was announced. However, the French company said it would consider EA's stake building as hostile until it received further details from the company.
"We think this operation is aimed at securing the studios of Ubi Soft that are ready to face the next generation of gaming consoles," a spokesman for the company said.
The news has fuelled speculation that the games giant might be poised for a takeover of Ubi Soft. Analysts did not expect EA to stop at the 20 per cent stake.
"We believe that this move by EA is a step towards acquiring the entire Ubisoft and is a potential signal that EA may be willing to take similar aggressive moves to acquire other leading video game publishers," Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Mr Michael Pachter said.
EA's investment secures it access to 18.4 per cent of the voting rights, against 22.8 per cent held by Ubi Soft's founders, the Guillemot family.
Ubi Soft has a portfolio of over 1,000 titles including a variety of hit "Tom Clancy" franchises like Splinter Cell.