Following a few hiccups from displeased investors, Activision Blizzard has completed its spinoff from parent Vivendi to become an independent, (albeit publicly-held) company.
Activision Blizzard is now officially an independent company. The home of World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and other game industry-leading franchises on Friday said it has completed its previously-announced buyback of shares from Vivendi, the French media conglomerate and Activision Blizzard's (now-former) parent company. For Activision Blizzard, the deal, valued at $8.2 billion, means the video game company will no longer be on the leash of a larger conglomerate whose interests are in media outside of video games. "With the completion of this transaction we open a new chapter in the history of Activision Blizzard," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. The company bought back shares totaling $5.83 billion, combined with a share purchase totaling $2.34 billion from an independent investor group led by Activision Kotick and co-chair Brian Kelly. While Activision Blizzard is independent in that it's no longer owned by a parent company, the majority of the company’s shares will be owned by the public. Vivendi still has a 12 percent stake in the company. When Actvision Blizzard announced the deal in July this year, the plan was to have it finalize in September. But certain shareholders, who said the sale benefited only a small group of investors, temporarily halted the deal.
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