Vivendi increased its stake in French game publisher Gameloft from around 15 per cent to 26.69 per cent, worth €111.6 million, and has not ruled out an attempt to take control.

The media group said the move is part of a “strategic vision of operational convergence between Vivendi’s content and platforms and the Gameloft productions in the field of video games”.

It also said in a statement to French securities regulator AMF that “these acquisitions were not specifically conceived as a preparatory step for a Gameloft takeover” and that “no decision has been taken at this stage regarding a potential public tender offer on the Gameloft shares”.

However, it added that it favours “a constructive approach enabling both parties to consider fruitful cooperation” and that if “such an approach does not lead to a favourable conclusion, Vivendi would not exclude taking control of Gameloft.”

Last month, the family which founded Gameloft increased its stake in the game publisher to more than 15 per cent, in a move designed to curb Vivendi’s growing influence.

Vivendi also has around a 10 per cent stake in another French game publisher, Ubisoft, whose CEO said in an internal e-mail that Vivendi’s stake acquisition was “unwelcome”.

When it published its Q3 2015 results, Vivendi said it will continue its acquisition of the game companies and that it believed the move was not regarded as hostile by them.