Activision Blizzard completes buyout from parent Vivendi

Publisher Activision Blizzard is free of its former parent Vivendi.

After its plans for a buyout were initially blocked, the company announced this weekend that it had at last completed the transaction.

To do so it had to acquire 429m shares and certain tax attributes” from Vivendi at a total cost of $5.83bn, working out at $13.60 per share. The buyout was completed by Bobby Kotick’s investment vehicle ACAC II, which includes Tencent among its members.

Separate to that deal, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and chairman Brian Kelly also acquired 172m shares for $2.34bn.

Vivendi has retained a 12 per cent stake in the company.

"With the completion of this transaction we open a new chapter in the history of Activision Blizzard," Kotick stated. "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."