Activision Buyout

[BO7H B4RRELS 2,447]

http://www.destructoid.com/activision-completes-buyout-to-become-independent-263467.phtml

 

Activision Blizzard has officially completed its buyback of $8.2B worth of shares from Vivendi, technically making the software giant an independent entity. Now, the company is majority owned by public shareholders.

 

While the transaction was originally brokered in July, a shareholder attempted to stop it by filing a lawsuit in August. Yesterday, the Delaware Supreme Court overturned the original ruling that halted the deal, thereby completing the process.

 

Of the $8.2B, Activision purchased 429 million shares for $5.83B. Additionally, an investment venture led by company CEO Bobby Kotick and chairman Brian Kelly bought 172 million shares for $2.34B, although it's unclear how much each personally expended.

 

With regard to the deal, Kotick optimistically said "we open a new chapter in the history of Activision Blizzard. We expect immediate shareholder benefits in the form of earnings-per-share accretion and strategic and operational independence. Our audiences and our incredibly talented employees around the world will benefit from a focused commitment to the creation of great games. Our shareholders and debt holders will have the benefit of an energized, invested, deeply committed management team focused on generating long-term, superior returns and effectively managing our capital structure."

 

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/10/11/activision-completes-purchase-of-itself-from-vivendi/

 

Activision's buyback of $8.2 billion of its own shares from Vivendi has been completed, the publisher announced today. It was just yesterday that the Delaware Supreme Court overturned a September ruling that halted the purchase, which followed a lawsuit by an Activision Blizzard shareholder in August. The shareholder alleged a "breach of fiduciary duties, waste of corporate assets and unjust enrichment" on Activision's behalf.

The publisher's purchase from Vivendi amounts to 429 million of its own shares for $5.83 billion. Additionally, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and Co-Chairman Brian Kelly purchased 172 million shares for $2.34 billion in a separate transaction. Activision is now officially an independent company, majority owned by its shareholders.

"The shares Activision Blizzard purchased in the transaction will no longer be treated as outstanding, leaving the majority of the remaining 690 million shares in the hands of public shareholders," Activision noted in today's announcement.

Activision said yesterday that it expected the purchase to be completed on October 15. The transaction came about four days ahead of schedule, as someone must have sprinted to the bank this morning.

[Diddums 4,305]

Wow. Now that the puppet master has left the room, Activision can really show their true colours and their attitude towards gamers as consumers. I'll bet this is a nail biting time for many of the staff, and this could herald a massive change in the way we see Actiblizzard does things. I always thought that Vivendi really crunched Blizzard's creativity in particular in favour of share prices and investors.

Everyone always said that Activision was the evil mastermind behind all their poor decisions, myself included. However, now that Vivendi has been taken out of the picture, it's sink or swim for Activision.

I have no doubt that Blizzard will be fine, they still have a reputation to rest on, but Activision has some repairing to do.

Let's wait and see. I sincerely hope that Kotick isn't the evil mastermind everyone thought he is, he's in a position to do great things for these guys.

Good luck to 'em.