Activision-Vivendi injunction tossed

Delaware judge denies shareholder request to halt merger; Activision Blizzard union on track for July 9 close.

When Activision and Vivendi Games announced in December that they would be merging their businesses in a transaction valued at $18.9 billion, it appeared as if the $27.50 per-share buyout offer--a then-32 percent premium over market price--was a pretty good deal. However, not all Activision shareholders were willing to so readily embrace the deal that would see World of Warcraft rubbing elbows with Guitar Hero at company socials.

In February, the Wayne County Employees' Retirement System filed suit in the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the merger. Today, however, that complaint has proven to be for naught. In a succinct statement, Activision said that the Delaware Court has denied the request.

In addition to revealing the outcome of the legal proceedings, Activision reiterated its intent to convene shareholders on July 8 to vote to approve the merger with Vivendi SA's games division, saying that in the event of stockholder approval, the two businesses will combine to form Activision Blizzard as early as July 9.

28 Comments

  • Autolycus

    Posted Jul 7, 2008 9:42 am PT

    Reason: Big business is good for everyone except hard working people... oh wait....

  • gnbfd

    Posted Jul 6, 2008 7:10 pm PT

    @skyline7284

    WOOPS! I misread the article. I thought it said because of Delaware ActiBlizzard's merger would be halted. My bad.

  • Alizerothree

    Posted Jul 5, 2008 12:20 pm PT

    Actard

  • skyline7284

    Posted Jul 5, 2008 7:22 am PT

    @gnbfd Wtf?! Delaware Rocks!

  • LindBergh2007

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 3:52 pm PT

    Activision/VU merger.

    No.No.No, Activision this is not going to save you or the already crumbling 3rd party software market. A company merger will only add insult to injury and make it harder for developers to put in a proper budget for your titles.

    Enough of this sugarcoating, the industry is not growning up, it's in trouble! Console gaming is in perial and many anyist are way too blind to see it. This is not 2004! This is 2008.

    I predict that considering that many of our factories and companies have be sold off, so will these western publishers to Japanese publishers.

  • Guts5

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 9:33 am PT

    @cooldude03 Oh heck yeah! Riddick is the man and the game was awesome back when it came out. I'd replay the same game if they upgrade the graphics and add just a bit more conent. Was a great game.

  • junglist101

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 9:16 am PT

    @cooldude03 I've been waiting for riddick as well but I haven't heard anything about it for months. That game is tight.

  • Gamesterpheonix

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 9:15 am PT

    LOL!

  • gamerfps

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 9:14 am PT

    I'm partial to Actiblizzion, myself.

  • diesil

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 7:40 am PT

    Blizzivision dont do it thats a EA move

  • cooldude03

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 2:38 am PT

    Off the top of my head the game I'm looking forward to from Vivendi is the new Riddick game. I know it's probably not the biggest franchise but it rocked the Xbox years ago. I understand it's just an expanded remake but I can live with that, add in gamerpoints or trophies depending on your preference and sounds like a must own title. As long as this merger keeps this title alive I'm all for it.

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 1:26 am PT

    i hope this is for the best and doesnt affect anything.

  • Phoenix534

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 11:53 pm PT

    They really need to just call it Blizzivision.

  • leafdj

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 10:28 pm PT

    Hmm, I was partial to Blizzivision, personally.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 9:39 pm PT

    Well i assumed it was gonna pan out anyway, so this is just driving the nail home imo.

  • NA3D

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 7:31 pm PT

    Volcanic, it sounds too close to retard thats why they wont go with Activard.

    killer, you need to look at the primary PC games that come to consoles other than shooters. They almost all turn out bad. Starcraft is a prime example. An amazing PC game that people still play today like crazy, the console version.... yeah.... might as well forget about it.

  • KillerFPS

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 7:00 pm PT

    I personally think that the Activision/VU merger is a good thing. Activision is primarily a console developer while Blizzard ( a massive part of Vivendi) is primarily a PC developer. This could lead to more Blizzard projects coming to console and viceversa. At the very least it means both are safe from EA.

  • VolcanicDemon

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 6:59 pm PT

    What about calling them Activard? Thought not!

  • LindBergh2007

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 6:40 pm PT

    Activision/VU merger.

    No.No.No, Activision this is not going to save you or the already crumbling 3rd party software market. A company merger will only add insult to injury and make it harder for developers to put in a proper budget for your titles.

    Enough of this sugarcoating, the industry is not growning up, it's in trouble! Console gaming is in perial and many anyist are way too blind to see it. This is not 2004! This is 2008.

    I predict that considering that many of our factories and companies have be sold off, so will these western publishers to Japanese publishers.

  • Mortal_Medic

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 6:38 pm PT

    The fact that two large companies want to merge makes just that much less competition in the video game market. As we all know from taking basic economics in high school: + competition = - prices, + quality.

    Tis a shame that video gamers are being placed in the back seat behind money.

  • briank555

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 6:38 pm PT

    They should call the company Blizzavision... that would sound much better...

  • nickythenewt21

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 5:33 pm PT

    They would call their company Activision Blizzard? That's a pretty sweet name!

  • skyline7284

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 5:20 pm PT

    Woot Go Delaware!

  • NA3D

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 5:00 pm PT

    Yeah, it is a bit late now. It seems the whole industry wants to group up, and it will only result in bad practices and unluckily bad games. The good side is, everything always balances back out, and new companies come in and make great games.

  • motorxd

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 4:55 pm PT

    just say no to synergy. there is no reason to taint blizzard with fisher price guitars and cheesey hair metal.

  • theycallmeryan

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 4:55 pm PT

    @TenP Agreed.

  • TenP

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 4:28 pm PT

    Trying to stop something like this is like trying to stop a steam engine with a kitten, failure is imminent. :\

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