Upon completion of the deal, Activision Blizzard would be a sibling entity to Xbox Game Studios under a new Microsoft Gaming division with Phil Spencer as its lead. The deal has been approved by both companies' board of directors and is expected to close in 2023 following international government regulatory review of the action. Simpson Thacher will serve as legal advisor for Microsoft while Skadden will serve as legal advisor for Activision. Goldman Sachs will serve as the financial advisor to Microsoft, and Allen & Company will be Activision's financial advisors. If closed, it would also be the most expensive video game-related acquisition in to date. The deal would make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company in the world and the largest headquartered in the Americas, behind Chinese company Tencent and the Japanese conglomerate Sony. Activision Blizzard's stock price jumped nearly 40% that day in pre-market trading. On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in an all-cash deal, or approximately $95 per share. In March 2021, Microsoft closed on its acquisition of ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for an estimated $7.5 billion, making it one of the largest video game acquisitions by that time. Microsoft is a dominant player in computing software, and also makes the Xbox line of game consoles and operates Xbox Game Studios, a collection of developers to create first party titles.

Among its assets are ownership of Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro from Activision's studios Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, and Overwatch from Blizzard Entertainment and Candy Crush Saga from King. The company is composed of five business units: Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, King, Major League Gaming, and Activision Blizzard Studios. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the European Commission (EC) formally filed complaints to block the acquisition on the basis that the merger would hinder competition.Īctivision Blizzard is one of the largest video game publishers in the world, with annual revenues of about $8.8 billion in 2021. If approved by international regulators, it would be the largest video game acquisition in history. The acquisition would give Microsoft ownership of franchises including Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush. Under the terms of the agreement, which would be expected to close by Spring 2023 pending regulatory and shareholder approval, Microsoft would own Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, and King under the Xbox Game Studios brand. On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash. Proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft Business acquisition held from 2022 to 2023

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