John-ShepardIf you have a few extra bucks lying around, you can acquire the single biggest video game publisher on earth.
Oh, all right; you might need more than a "few extra bucks." As reported by Bloomberg , Vivendi is looking to unload their 61% stake in Activision Blizzard.
Earlier this week, Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy battled the board of directors on the subject of restructuring the company and subsequently hit the bricks. Now, Vivendi is looking for a seller for its 61% share of Activision, which is worth about $8.1 billion. If they can't find a buyer, they'll turn to the open market to get rid of those shares. As for potential buyers, industry analyst Michael Pachter says he can't really think of one off hand.
"The problem is there are no readily apparent buyers for Activision. The only option left to Vivendi is to lever up Activision's balance sheet and pay out all of its cash as a dividend, then spin the company off."
What does this mean for gamers? Well, at this point, nothing. But a whole lot could change depending on the near future, so if you're a big-time Call of Duty or World of Warcraft aficionado, you might want to pay attention to the business news for a while.
8.1 Billion for a controlling stake in the Call of Duty maker. Don't tell MS. Might make it xbox exclusive.
i think "all" gamers should keep paying attention,
like them or not, Activision is part of our gamming history
Nobody tell Sheldon Adelson.
If I were a billionaire I'd buy the whole shabang and shut down CoD just for laughs.
Surely not straight away… Let them develop another one first so you can recoup your losses 😉
Why would they want to sell what is currently the biggest game company out there? (Do they think, activation hit its prime?)
Also if they do split it up, who has the next biggest share?
Why the hell would they do that? Activision has control of the biggest entertainment franchise in the world right now and what kind of entertainment conglomerate WOULDN't want to be a part of that? I think that, if Activision is sold to a single entity, it would be one that is only partially or tangentially involved in the gaming sector. One with huge cash reserves.
Interest news, considering they only just shit down Radical… Cosmic balancing?
hmm, maybe fox or warner bros will buy it. these two should have lots of cash. would apple or microsoft buy it? gonna be fun seeing who buys it in the end.
If Sony buys Activision…. Man can they make money and recover from all losses.
apple should buy them, than bring out a new console!
that would be sweet!
never going to happen, but one can dream.
more seriously though why would you want to sell them off?
if their in the mindset that the company is going to go downhill from here i think there in for a sore surprise!
RPG first person shooters in the future?
EA or Ubisoft would a fool not to at least look into this.
Vivendi knows they can't ride the COD train to much longer. Weren't the sales down slightly for MW3?
Vivendi knows they can't ride the COD train to much longer. Weren't the sales down slightly for MW3?
Nope, best selling COD yet
I have a feeling Call of Duty's day has almost ended.
Viva la RPG Renaissance!