Mega publisher Activision Blizzard has reached a whopping $8.2 billion deal to separate itself from French conglomerate Vivendi, becoming an independent company in the process.
According to The New York Times, Activision Blizzard made the announcement early Friday. The company, along with a group of investors, will seek to buy back shares owned by Vivendi. The cost for Activision Blizzard’s liberation from Vivendi is about $5.83 billion cash for 429 million shares. In essence, it would be $13.60 per share.
Under the terms of the deal, Bobby Kotick will remain Activision Blizzard’s Chief Executive Officer, while Brian Kelly will act as Chairman. Both Kotick and Kelly are buying 172 million shares from Vivendi for $2.34 billion.
“We should emerge even stronger,” Kotick says. “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.”
Speculations over the last year revealed Vivendi was looking to sell its stake in Activision Blizzard. Now that Activision Blizzard has announced this deal, the company believes it can prosper as an independent company.
