Activision Blizzard shareholders approve the company's $69 billion acquisition by Microsoft
Shareholders in Activision Blizzard approved overwhelmingly to accept Microsoft Corporation’s offer of $68.7 billion (£54.66 billion) to acquire the company at yesterday’s Special Meeting of Stockholders. More than 98% of the shares voted in favour of the buyout offer, Activision Blizzard confirmed in a statement released on their website. The largest payment for a technology company in recorded history, toppling Dell’s acquisition of EMC Data Storage from 2016, it’s now expected the deal will conclude during Microsoft’s fiscal year, which ends on June 30th 2023.
Microsoft made public their all-cash proposal to acquire Activision Blizzard for $95 (£76) per share on January 18th, which was just a bit of a shock. The proposed deal would further consolidate the games industry and bring huge franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, Warcraft, Candy Crush and, really weirdly, Crash Bandicoot under Microsoft’s stewardship. Activision Blizzard’s, ahem, controversial CEO Bobby Kotick, who reportedly proposed buying games media outlets to ‘change the narrative’ surrounding the company, commented on the shareholders' approval:
At the end of March, Four United States senators including former Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts representative Elizabeth Warren appealed to the Federal Trade Commission to consider the effect of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard on workers before approving the deal. Bloomberg report that the FTC’s lead Lina Khan is likely to oppose the deal when it’s reviewed. Other governments outside of the United States have also yet to approve the deal.
Activision Blizzard have struggled with accusations of sexual harrassment, discrimination and poor working conditions for
Read more on rockpapershotgun.com
