In the esports and gaming industry, a very big thing is brewing, a mega acquisition. Microsoft has confirmed the purchase of Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s best-known game publishers. We have compiled all the relevant information about the merger in the news.
The takeover plan of Microsoft
According to our experience, the takeover of the game maker won’t be a hair-pulling action. Microsoft plans to take over the shares step-by-step. The software giant is offering a purchase price of $95 per share. The purchase offer is thus a good 45 percent above the current trading price of Activision Blizzard shares. After the takeover announcement, the share price briefly jumped to 83 dollars, but very quickly returned to normal. In total, this is a $68.7 billion purchase transaction. The sum shows the value of the gaming forge.
It is planned that the acquisition will be completed within the next Microsoft fiscal period, which will run until mid-2023. It can be assumed that there will be no takeover battle, but the process will still drag on for a few months. Before Microsoft can make a concrete move, the approval of the competition authorities still has to be obtained anyway.
Activision Blizzard: Call of Duty and Candy Crush
Activision Blizzard has undoubtedly been one of the beneficiaries of the Corona pandemic in recent months. More and more customers have turned to online games. In the quarter ended 2020, revenue rose to two billion dollars, with a profit of 639 million dollars. In total, Blizzard Games are used by 400 million players monthly. 245 million access Candy Crush. The game was acquired by Blizzard from the provider King. The company’s second top game is Call of Duty.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s games business has not really gone according to plan in recent months. The company continues to have problems with chip and component deliveries with its Xbox. The latest generation of the Xbox is still extremely difficult to get hold of, even a year after its release. However, Microsoft is not exclusive to the difficulties. Competitor Sony has similar problems with the Playstation.
Controversial boss to stay in office
It is interesting that Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick will remain in office and lead the company after the takeover. Kotick had recently come under enormous criticism after the state of California filed a lawsuit. The group had promoted a sexist corporate culture in which women were systematically discriminated against. Activision Blizzard has denied this, but in the meantime has nevertheless entrusted an independent law firm with an external audit. Kotick had never taken decisive action against the misconduct of his managers in the past. In the new company constellation, Bobby Kotick will work under Microsoft games boss Paul Spencer.
Microsoft already with several game studios
From Microsoft’s point of view, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard can be called a hammer deal without question. The company has a clear business focus. The games division is to be expanded step-by-step and led towards market leadership. With Activision Blizzard under the umbrella of the holding company, Microsoft would make a huge leap in the ranking of the most important game manufacturers, no question. However, it is true that Activision Blizzard is not Microsoft’s first studio. Games like “Doom” or “Minecraft” are already distributed under the company’s banner.
