Call Of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard has bought out Vivendi’s share of the business for $5.83 billion.
At the same time, an investor group led by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly bought 172 million Activision Blizzard shares from Vivendi for $2.34 billion.
It all means that Activision is now fully independent of media group Vivendi, with the majority of the company’s shares owned by the public. Vivendi does, however, retain 83 million shares, or 12 per cent of the company. The investor group led by Kotick and Kelly, ASAC II LP, will now own a 24.9 per cent stake. The Activision execs personally committed $100 million combined to their part of the buyout, says the statement confirming the move.
“We should emerge even stronger – an independent company with a best-in-class franchise portfolio and the focus and flexibility to drive long-term shareholder value and expand our leadership position as one of the world’s most important entertainment companies,” said CEO Bobby Kotick. “The transactions announced today will allow us to take advantage of attractive financing markets while still retaining more than $3 billion cash on hand to preserve financial stability.”
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