Activision Seeks Independence From Vivendi In $8.17 Billion Buyout

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Activision BlizzardATVI
, the company behind
Call of Duty
,
Skylanders
and the ill-fated
Guitar Hero
franchise, is seeking independence from
VivendiVIVHY
. The company had hoped to buy back
roughly 429 million shares
-- worth $5.83 billion -- from Vivendi earlier this year. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly planned to buy the remaining 172 million shares, worth $2.34 billion. The sale was halted when a shareholder, Douglas Hayes, filed a lawsuit claiming that Vivendi's Board of Directors needed shareholder approval in order to sell its stake in Activision. According to
Bloomberg
, Activision has a backup plan. If the preliminary injunction is not overturned, the
Call of Duty
maker will seek shareholder approval to buy $8.17 billion worth of stock from Vivendi. In doing so, Activision would gain independence from Vivendi, which acquired a majority stake in the company in 2008.
Related:PlayStation 4 Software Pre-Orders Top Xbox One By 55%
Two Enter, One Leaves
When Activision joined Vivendi five years ago, it did not have control of Blizzard Games, the company behind
World of Warcraft
,
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Starcraft
and
Diablo
. After acquiring Activision, Vivendi merged the firm with Blizzard. If and when Activision is able to sever its ties with Vivendi, it will have the luxury of taking Blizzard and all of its assets. Considering that
World of Warcraft
was once a cash cow for Activision (and is still worth billions in annual revenue), this seems like a pretty sweet deal. A similar event occurred when
General ElectricGE
acquired Universal Pictures from Vivendi. GE merged Universal with its TV network, NBC, and sold the resulting entity (NBCUniversal) to
ComcastCMCSA
.
Time Is Running Out
According to the Bloomberg report, Activision will appear before the Delaware Supreme Court on October 10 to appeal the lower-court injunction. If the purchases are not allowed to go forward by October 15, Activision may be delayed (if not prevented) from buying back a controlling stake in its own firm. Disclosure:
At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ
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Posted In: NewsM&ATechActivisionActivision BlizzardBobby KotickCall of DutyComcastDelaware Supreme CourtDiabloDouglas HayesGEGeneral Electricguitar heronbcuniversalSkylandersStarcraftVivendiWorld of Warcraft
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