Microsoft Officially Buys Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion

Deal of the year. Microsoft has announced that it has agreed to acquire Activision Blizzard.

The price of the issue is almost $70 billion. At the moment, this is the largest deal in the gaming sector in history.

The terms of the transaction are as follows: Microsoft will pay the entire amount in cash. The corporation will pay $95 for each share (this is plus 45% of Friday’s value).

On the premarket, the price of Activision Blizzard shares jumped by 38% to $90 apiece (before that it cost around $65).

All Activision Blizzard studios with more than 10 thousand employees, as well as intellectual assets, including brands such as Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty and Candy Crush, are being transferred to Microsoft.

Bobby Kotick will remain as CEO of Activision Blizzard for the time being. But upon completion of the transaction, which is scheduled for fiscal 2023, the entire business of the company will be subordinated to Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

The latter has already stated that Microsoft will try to transfer the maximum possible number of Activision Blizzard titles to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. Whether they will become exclusives is an open question.

Important: the deal has not yet been approved by antimonopoly regulators. In the event that it is blocked, Microsoft will have to pay $3 billion to Activision Blizzard.

The sale of the company in the media is associated with an ongoing series of scandals that have shaken Activision Blizzard since the summer. It primarily concerns working conditions (harassment, unexpected layoffs, etc.).