corporate-merger
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Vivendi and Activision merge nears completion as Delaware Court denies preliminary injunction
It's a hectic summer over at Blizzard HQ. Inundating the masses with Wrath of the Lich King across the pond at the World Wide Invitational, announcing Diablo 3 on top of that, and battling it out in the courts against the kingpin responsible for World of Warcraft's bot brigade. Aside from all that, there's the whole pending merger with Activision and Vivendi approval process with Blizzard Entertainment right in the middle. The latest legal development involves a preliminary injunction filed by some shareholders who weren't satisfied with the $27.50 per share offer. The injunction suit was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery last February by the Wayne County Employee's Retirement System in an attempt to halt the merger. Activision has announced that a Delaware Court junked that preliminary injunction, a decision made by the very illuminated and WoW-knowledgeable Chief Judge William B. Chandler III. Activision will be holding a stockholder meeting next Tuesday on July 8, if approved the merger will complete on July 9th and a new titan, Activision Blizzard will join forces and the gaming world will never be the same again. We wonder how many level 70 characters the Judge plays or maybe he's already level 75 in the WotlK beta?
Where the Activision Blizzard merger stands
Shock and awe hit the gaming industry on December 2, 2007, on that morning two giants announced a deal worth 18.8 billion dollars. Activision and Vivendi Games are to merge, a monstrosity in the making set to rival Electronic Arts for the throne to the word's biggest and most profitable force in game development and business. An acquisition on this scale doesn't happen overnight, and since the original announcement there have been numerous noteworthy developments. Gamasutra delves into the acquisition providing an in-depth analysis which focuses on the overall impact thus far about key players and their new positions, what this means for Blizzard Entertainment, and of course more numbers. The piece also includes commentary with some respected authorities in their field including Massively's own Michael Zenke.
Blizzard rolled into Activision Blizzard mega-publisher [Updated]
In a HUGE news story that we were quite unprepared to have fall into our laps on a lazy Sunday morning, it's been announced that Activision and Vivendi Games have signed a major agreement to the tune of $18.8 billion, that will see the two mega-publishing houses rolled into a company to be known as Activision Blizzard, which will collectively have the biggest and most expansive portfolio of game titles of any company to date - even surpassing rival Electronic Arts in sheer size and scope.According to the terms of the agreement, Vivendi Games will be merged into Activision as a wholly owned subsidiary, and Vivendi Games stock will be turned into Activision common stock. We're not financial analysts nor are we fluent in legalese, so its difficult for us to interpret the exact terms of the deal, but Vivendi will come out of the merger as a 68% owner of the newly formed company. There's no indication yet if the merger will have any bearing on Blizzard's current or future development plans, though it seems likely that there is going to be a change as the management at the highest levels of the company will have a different face to it.For some quotes from the parties involved, and our reaction, follow us after the jump.
