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  1. #1
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    Activision-Blizzard Completes Purchase from Vivendi

    source: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/xto...medium=twitter


    Activision-Blizzard now owns itself.


    Over the weekend, Activision-Blizzard announced that it had completed its shares buyout deal with Vivendi. The company itself bought up 429 million shares from Vivendi for $5.83 billion. A separate investment group, led by CEO Bobby Kotick, bought up another 172 million shares for $2.34 billion, giving Activision-Blizzard a 61% majority sharehold in itself.

    “With the completion of this transaction we open a new chapter in the history of Activision Blizzard,” stated Kotick in regards to the deal. “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.”

    This buyout scheme had been formulated back in late July this year, but a minority shareholder filed a lawsuit in hopes of blocking the buyout. Douglas Hayes, the angry shareholder in question, had slapped down the lawsuit on the grounds that the Activision-Blizzard buyout couldn't go down without a minority stakeholder vote. A few days ago, the Delaware Supreme Court gave Vivendi and Activision-Blizzard the green light, declaring that no vote was necessary since it was a share re-purchase.

    In any case, Activision-Blizzard now owns itself. Whether or not this means the company will change up the way it deals with its portfolio of IPs remains to be seen.

  2. #2
    Our audiences and our incredibly talented employees around the world will benefit from a focused commitment to the creation of great games.
    Does that mean what I think it is? Maybe Vivendi itself was rushing game developers with their games.

  3. #3
    Herald of the Titans BHD's Avatar
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    Interesting. No idea if it's great news or not, I guess we'll see that eventually. I don't really hold anything against Activision, but I don't want anyone but Blizzard themselves to touch Blizzard IPs. So that last line made me slightly worried.
    Cave Cave Deus Videt

  4. #4
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    it means blizzard its its own company now so maybe it will be for the better only time wil ltell

  5. #5
    Herald of the Titans GodlyBob's Avatar
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    I imagine operations will continue largely as they did before, money is just going to be funneled to different people. I mean, it's possible that because the higher-ups now have a more direct stake in making money, quality of products and policies may improve, but I don't think we'll see anything surprising. I'm not harping on blizzard by any means, they're still one of my favorite developers, but I just don't think this is going to change a thing.
    /\ Was this sarcasm? Are you sure?
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    || The results may surprise you.

  6. #6
    As long as Bobby Kotick is in charge, this game (and all Blizzard titles) are subject to putting profit over its customers. If it nets them more money, they'll do it. Regardless of what the community wants.

    Source: The theft of CoD from Zampella and West. (and subsequent NINE titles on the SAME engine while costing as much as a brand new game.)

  7. #7
    Herald of the Titans GodlyBob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Struggle View Post
    As long as Bobby Kotick is in charge, this game (and all Blizzard titles) are subject to putting profit over its customers. If it nets them more money, they'll do it. Regardless of what the community wants.

    Source: The theft of CoD from Zampella and West. (and subsequent NINE titles on the SAME engine while costing as much as a brand new game.)
    Hey, at least we're getting Titanfall out of the Zampella/West fallout. that's something to be thankful for.
    /\ Was this sarcasm? Are you sure?
    || Read it again, I'll wait.
    || The results may surprise you.

  8. #8
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    whats titanfall i keep hearing about it

  9. #9
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    I still don't get why Blizzard entered a deal with Activision in the first place. It's not like they didn't have enough money to run themselves and stay a global player.

    Maybe this was the plan all along, to use Activision money to get rid of Vivendi. The lesser of two evils.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Mojo Risin View Post
    I still don't get why Blizzard entered a deal with Activision in the first place. It's not like they didn't have enough money to run themselves and stay a global player.

    Maybe this was the plan all along, to use Activision money to get rid of Vivendi. The lesser of two evils.
    IIRC, as a subsidiary of Vivendi, Blizzard really didn't have much input in the Activision-Blizzard merger.

    3DS Friend Code: 0146-9205-4817. Could show as either Chris or Chrysia.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Kangodo View Post
    And 9 out of 10 times the will of the community brings the most profit.

    Did you really expect that they thrown around 9 billion USD because they "want to change the direction of the game"?
    Get real, seriously.
    No, I didn't expect that, nor did I say or imply that anywhere in my post...

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by warcraftmew View Post
    source: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/xto...medium=twitter


    Activision-Blizzard now owns itself.
    Um, no, that's incorrect. Activision-Blizzard continues to be a publicly traded corporation, owned by its shareholders. And Vivendi is still a shareholder (although with a reduced share of the stock.)
    "There is a pervasive myth that making content hard will induce players to rise to the occasion. We find the opposite. " -- Ghostcrawler
    "The bit about hardcore players not always caring about the long term interests of the game is spot on." -- Ghostcrawler
    "Do you want a game with no casuals so about 500 players?"

  13. #13
    Over 9000! Gimlix's Avatar
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    Didn't we had the same topic like a few months ago? or was that like half of vivendi shares they bought?
    Quote Originally Posted by Shekora View Post
    Goddamn it, Gimlix, why do you keep making these threads?
    Quote Originally Posted by Sam the Wiser View Post
    Goddamn it, Gimlix, why do you keep making these threads?

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Gimlix View Post
    Didn't we had the same topic like a few months ago? or was that like half of vivendi shares they bought?
    The deal was announced, then there was a shareholder lawsuit that blocked it for a while. The Delaware Supreme Court recently gave the deal the go ahead.
    "There is a pervasive myth that making content hard will induce players to rise to the occasion. We find the opposite. " -- Ghostcrawler
    "The bit about hardcore players not always caring about the long term interests of the game is spot on." -- Ghostcrawler
    "Do you want a game with no casuals so about 500 players?"

  15. #15
    Means little in terms of game quality, but it is great news for the financial viability going forward for Activision Blizzard. Vivendi was going to suck the life out of company financially.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Mojo Risin View Post
    I still don't get why Blizzard entered a deal with Activision in the first place. It's not like they didn't have enough money to run themselves and stay a global player.

    Maybe this was the plan all along, to use Activision money to get rid of Vivendi. The lesser of two evils.
    They didn't.

    Vivendi owned both Blizzard and Activision. Vivendi was shutting down it's gaming branch, Vivendi Games, and decided to keep both Blizzard and Activision because they remained profitable for them. Thus, they merged the two companies into Activision-Blizzard.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Gimlix View Post
    Didn't we had the same topic like a few months ago? or was that like half of vivendi shares they bought?
    There was legal trouble, but it has finally gone through as planned.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by CosmicGuitars View Post
    Vivendi owned both Blizzard and Activision.
    VIvendi never owned Activsion.
    "There is a pervasive myth that making content hard will induce players to rise to the occasion. We find the opposite. " -- Ghostcrawler
    "The bit about hardcore players not always caring about the long term interests of the game is spot on." -- Ghostcrawler
    "Do you want a game with no casuals so about 500 players?"

  18. #18
    Mechagnome Aztrazolo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CosmicGuitars View Post
    They didn't.

    Vivendi owned both Blizzard and Activision. Vivendi was shutting down it's gaming branch, Vivendi Games, and decided to keep both Blizzard and Activision because they remained profitable for them. Thus, they merged the two companies into Activision-Blizzard.
    Not quite. Activision was merged with Vivendi Games, which then became the holding company Activision-Blizzard. Blizzard itself was never merged with Activision. They were and are still a separate company.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Osmeric View Post
    VIvendi never owned Activsion.
    This is correct.
    Blindingly defending Blizzard; ignorantly trashing Blizzard. Both require an emotional investment that I'm unwilling to give. I'll take reason, logic, facts, and the willingness to accept that I may be wrong. At the end of the day I'll have nothing to account for and I may even have learned something.

  19. #19
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    well all we need is blizz to ditch activision cos blizzard dnt need activision to be successful

  20. #20
    Immortal Tharkkun's Avatar
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    Activision provided Blizzard with distribution and marketing options that Blizzard did not previously have. There were many positives from the business side.

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