Major banks called in to broker Activision sale

Barclays and Goldman Sachs have been called into to help Vivendi secure the $8.1bn sale of Activision Blizzard, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Vivendi’s share price shot up on reports it is looking to sell the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher.

Rumours that Vivendi was planning to sell its 61 per cent stake in the profitable games publishing arm has been circulating for weeks now. The media conglomerate has a high level of debt and a flagging share price, the sale of Activision Blizzard – which is worth around $13.4bn – is reportedly part of the firm’s ambitions to rectify the situation.

Activision Blizzard has reportedly been offered to major games companies including Microsoft and Tencent, but a share buy-back from Activision Blizzard itself is also apparently under consideration.