activision-blizzard-sale-halted
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Activision Vivendi injunction lifted by Delaware Supreme Court
A few weeks ago we reported on the holdup of the Activision-Blizzard buyback from Vivendi, due to court action on behalf a few stockholders. In September, an Activision stockholder sued Activision in the Delaware Cancery Court to prevent the deal from going forward. The lawsuit argued that the deal as it stood would give Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and Co-Chairman Brian Kelley too much control over the company, to the detriment of other stockholders. As of today, the Delaware Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Activision-Blizzard's appeal of the lawsuit. As a result, Activision-Blizzard looks to have the buyback completed by October 15th, 2013. The buyback will move forward as originally intended, with Activision-Blizzard as a company acquiring around 429 million shares from Vivendi, and the private investment group ASAC II LP simultaneously acquiring about 172 million shares. The total buyback is worth over US$8 billion.
Activision-Blizzard split from Vivendi halted
As reported in July, Activision-Blizzard made the move to separate itself from majority shareholder Vivendi Universal by buying itself back to the tune of over 8 billion dollars in total. About a week after the announcement, shareholder Todd Miller filed a complaint against Activision-Blizzard for doing so. Earlier this month, shareholder Douglas Hayes instigated a lawsuit against Activision-Blizzard to stop the sale, alleging that the company's CEO, chairman, and a handful of investors will benefit disproportionately from the sale. As a result, the deal is now halted for the time being. The lawsuit hinges around the fact that the Activision-Blizzard buyback from Vivendi is actually a two-part share acquisition. The first part involves Activision-Blizzard, as a company, purchasing around 429 million shares from Vivendi. The second part -- which was the subject of Todd Miller's complaint and is at the center of the lawsuit -- involves the private investment vehicle ASAC II LP, headed by Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and Co-Chairmain Brian Kelly, concurrently purchasing around 172 million shares from Vivendi. Hayes v. Activision-Blizzard alleges that the approval of the second sale represents a "breach of of [Activision-Blizzard and Vivendi's] fiduciary duties" and violates "certain provisions of the Company's certificate of incorporation" because it failed to submit the sale's approval to a non-Vivendi stockholder vote. For its part, Activision-Blizzard seems to view the halt as merely a setback, and intends to continue forward with the buyback. As per the following statement Activision-Blizzard "remains committed to the transaction and is exploring the steps it will take to complete the transaction as expeditiously as possible."
