Shareholders approve Activision Vivendi union

Investors in Guitar Hero publisher sign off on all involved proposals relating to Vivendi Games merger by margin of 92 percent or more.

As promised during the second week of June, Activision held a shareholder's meeting to vote on the proposed merger with Vivendi Games. And as expected, investors in the Santa Monica-based publisher approved by an overwhelming majority the $18.9 billion deal that first surfaced in December. In a statement, Activision noted that "all of the proposals required to effect the transaction received more than 92 percent of the shares voted."

Following the terms of the deal, Vivendi Games--the interactive games division of France-based media conglomerate Vivendi SA and parent company of Blizzard Entertainment and Sierra Entertainment--will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision. As previously noted, the merger is expected to wrap on or about July 9, at which point the company will be rebranded Activision Blizzard.

In addition to converting Vivendi Games stock into 295.3 million shares of newly issued Activision stock, Vivendi SA will purchase an additional 62.9 million shares at the agreed-upon price of $27.50 apiece. That stock buy will give Vivendi SA a controlling stake in Activision Blizzard.

Though Vivendi SA will maintain a controlling stake, the publishers said in December that current Activision CEO Robert Kotick will maintain his position as group CEO and president, and Vivendi Games chief Bruce Hack will slot in as chief corporate officer and vice chairman. Mike Griffith will reprise his position as president and CEO of Activision Publishing, and the Guitar Hero publisher's chief financial officer Thomas Tippl will also transition into a similar role at the new company. Jean-Francois Grollemund, Vivendi Games' CFO, will become Activision Blizzard's chief accounting officer.

53 Comments

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 12, 2008 1:25 pm PT

    ya na3d your right. Atleast it wasnt EA.

  • Cracklite

    Posted Jul 10, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    ""Meaning Vivendi SA are in charge, but they said they won't fix whats not broken so everything will continue as normal.
    is that right?"

    Well, usually, when a company owns 54% of another company, we can pretty much say that the latter now belongs to the first one. No getting around it. It may sound unpatriotic to say it so bluntly, since Vivendi is a french firm, but here you are !

  • NA3D

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 3:01 pm PT

    Be happy it isn't EA who is buying them out, that would be more troubling to me than Activision, even though they are almost equally evil.

    Nintendo is still the largest game company in the world though at the value of $8billion. EA is at $4billion, while Activision is 2.9 billion and Viv is $1 billion. So EA will be slightly bigger still then pull away again after buying out TakeTwo $0.54billion and Ubisoft $0.84billion.

    So once this deal is complete:
    Nintendo $8 billion
    EA $4 billion
    Actiblizzard $3.9 billion

    After EA finishes up with TakeTwo:
    Nintendo $8 billion
    EA $4.5 billion
    Actiblizzard $3.9 billion

    After EA finishes up with Ubisoft: (dont believe me EAubisoft.com is owned by EA)
    Nintendo $8 billion
    EA $5.4 billion
    Actiblizzard $3.9 billion

    If rumors are right, they are looking into THQ as well, which with current stats that would be:
    Nintendo $8 billion
    EA $6.8 billion
    Actiblizzard $3.9 billion

    Either way, this is depressing, and I am getting sick of this crap. I hate EA more because they are buying out quality studios, and as always will destroy the value of those titles.

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 2:15 pm PT

    ya it seems thats all anyone cares about is wether blizzard will be affected or not. I dont think there is anything to worry about.

  • playa42018

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 12:44 pm PT

    Blizzard is all I really care about.

  • slickr

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 12:44 pm PT

    Its really basic really.
    They are merging together to form activision-blizzard. Vivendi will have the controling shares 52%, while activision CEO Robert still being the CEO of the new formed company.
    But apart from that everything will continue to operate as normal, its just that activision-blizzard is now 1st or 2nd largest gaming company in the world and what that means shares will continue to increase which also means more money for shareholders!

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 12:32 pm PT

    No guys blizzard is to strong of an entity to let anyone screw with them. This is all about helping eachother and making even more money. Nothing bad will come of this.

  • biggs92--

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 12:28 pm PT

    So,
    Activision bought vivendi games, creating Activision Blizzard but vivendi SA has bought the controlling stake in Activision Blizzard.
    Meaning Vivendi SA are in charge, but they said they won't fix whats not broken so everything will continue as normal.
    is that right?

  • iceveiled

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 12:11 pm PT

    Of course they approve. Have you ever heard of a shareholder walking around saying "god I hope these stocks don't split!". :-\

  • elvato87

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 11:50 am PT

    @ Cracklite

    Ok. Thanks

  • infect999

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 11:48 am PT

    i hope Activision doesn't try to screw with Blizzard's agenda...God help them

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 11:25 am PT

    I dont think that there is anything bad related to this. It wasnt like thousands of employees were laid off and sections closed down. They did it all for the money and there is nothing wrong with making some extra bread. They will work great together.

  • akiwak

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 11:22 am PT

    Of course I approved the merger. Would I like a more balanced portfolio and increase the chance of getting higher rates of return? YES, Please.....

  • Cracklite

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 11:11 am PT

    "So Activision Bought Vivendi Games, but Vivendi SA is the owner of the new company (Activision Blizzard) or what?"

    No, Vivendi SA bought Avtivision and Blizzard, Vivendi are in control since they now own 54% of them, but since Activision and Blizzard are making a **** load of money, Vivendi will not try to fix what isn't broken. Let's call it a friendly takeover, very friendly, but definitely not a merger. Vivendi is in charge now, for better or worse...

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 10:49 am PT

    I dont think this will be a bad thing and I also feel that this will work out in the long run. I dont see Blizzard changing anything except for making more money. This is one deal that is actually benificial.

  • elvato87

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 10:46 am PT

    So Activision Bought Vivendi Games, but Vivendi SA is the owner of the new company (Activision Blizzard) or what?

  • Lord-Viru

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 10:18 am PT

    I wonder when the first Activision or EA console arrives, because at the rate these two sets of gaming companies are buying up developers they will soon control a large enough slice of the gaming market to be able to create a console and have plenty of games ready for it, its sort of like Sega or Atari and their old lines of consoles, and see where that ended up?

  • Cracklite

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 10:16 am PT

    "the growing empire that is Blizzard extends it's mighty hand into the stars."

    Don't want to rain on your parade, but Vivendi's empire now, Blizzard just got bought unless you didn't notice !

  • Vaco_P

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 10:16 am PT

    I don't really care about Activision as much, but I hope this helps out the games that Blizzard develops. They've always pleased me in the past, and with any luck, this deal will give them more money to work with, hopefully to put into Starcraft II and Diablo III (not that they aren't already putting money into those, I just mean they could be that much more sick).

  • wreckless999

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 9:54 am PT

    Now Activision buys EA for $0.99 .

  • Sheiko

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 9:46 am PT

    Luv Blizzard hopefully they continue their gaming culture and continue to provide awesome games.

  • markharris31

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 8:52 am PT

    Those of you calling for the demise of EA... you do realize that would pull billions of development dollars out of the gaming industry and cripple the publishing capability of a good chunk of the industry as well. How can that possibly be a good thing? If you don't like EA games, don't buy them, period. Otherwise, go be ignorant somewhere else, please.

  • Guts5

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 8:43 am PT

    Some of these type deals bother me, but this one should be good. Only time will tell.

  • kos1085

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 7:08 am PT

    The shareholders would have been crazy to not approve this deal.

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 6:49 am PT

    as long as blizzard stays true to itself that is all that matters to me.

  • kkkkknaruto

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 6:39 am PT

    next up (rumoured news)= "due to lack of money on ea's side to buy out Activision Blizzard, they are willing to trade crack and illegal weaponry for $26.78 per shreholder. Since they cannot beat them and are officially being owned, it only seems like the right move by EA" LMAOOOOO it'll be jkz if i see this in a couple of months

  • kkkkknaruto

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 6:34 am PT

    basically we're gna see alot more wow songs on guitar hero and cod 4 faces on our wow characters.....and who knows maybe a cod 4 MMO

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 5:45 am PT

    Blizzard suffered when Vivendi bought them. At least Activision is more aligned with the games industry but I don't think this will ultimately be of any benefit to gamers.

    It's about businesses making more money.

  • Gamesterpheonix

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 5:39 am PT

    lol can you say - lion king sun. NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SEVENYA!!!!

  • portej

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 5:13 am PT

    Too much consolidation in the video games industry = less variety = makes me a sad panda

  • raze-boi

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 4:17 am PT

    Hopefully this will snap EA to pieces! Call of Duty owns Medal of Honor!

  • theclaw135

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 3:55 am PT

    Activision Blizzard? They should've just called it Money Printing!

    Guitar Hero, Spider-Man, Tony Hawk, Warcraft, Call of Duty...

  • BaTmAnX92

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 1:58 am PT

    Well this is good news. I can actually stand Activision and I love Blizzard (even though this is Vivendi that is merging, I don't really care for Sierra or Vivendi's own games), so the actual combination of both companies is just fantastic, and also that EA is getting owned.

  • Bumfinator

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 1:34 am PT

    and EA shall tremble with fear, as the growing empire that is Blizzard extends it's mighty hand into the stars.

  • CrackerMcGee

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 1:19 am PT

    This seems like an ideal paring unlike EA trying to grab a hold of Take 2.

  • unndead16

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 12:53 am PT

    Vivendi+Activision+Blizzard+Sierra= 10+ Games (the war against EA has started), Blizzard is the leading violin in this concerto, but Blizzard lacks diversity, so the League of Extraordenery Companies needs vivendi to destribute, Blizzard and Sierra to manufacture and Activision to transpond to the consoles, because let's be serious, you need consol games too (Can't wait for diablo III on PS3/XB360 or PS4/XB720 who Knows!?) go BLIZZ -ACTI-VIVE-ERA

  • pourya_ahmadian

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 12:44 am PT

    I THINK THEY CAN MAKE GREAT GAMES;great minds are behind this;

  • fredwv

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 9:04 pm PT

    let the reign of terror begin

  • zintarr

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 8:47 pm PT

    There is nothing as sad or as funny as when EA fanboys come to the defense.

  • tmorri603

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 8:44 pm PT

    As long as Blizzard keeps making the great games, I am happy.

  • mikewalsh69

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 7:50 pm PT

    so the official union becomes official-er.

  • zellwood69

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 6:59 pm PT

    Sounds good but Activision should have got the 62.9 instead hope this doesn't hurt the guys on the lower end of the company.

  • jasonbarbour

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 6:24 pm PT

    FRANCE! ugh, why dident activision get the controlling stake, Vivendi isent even part of the name anymore and they controll the compay, seems like a buyout more than a merger...

  • dac917

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 5:52 pm PT

    I wouldn't expect to see many changes in the way Blizzard and Sierra develop games; most of the change will occur way, way up on the corporate ladder that matters little to everyone down here on Earth.

  • EPaul

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 5:34 pm PT

    Will activision force Diablo 3 unto consoles.....?

  • JimmyCos

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 5:09 pm PT

    brightshadow525:

    maybe a zerg in guitar hero?

  • remmbermytitans

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 5:05 pm PT

    Wow, now I really regret selling my shares of Activision about 8 months back. This company's going to go up, up, up.

  • shade6

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 4:29 pm PT

    i think they are trying the strength in numbers .Also with the power behind blizzard i dont think they will be messed with at all we all know activision and we all know vivendi. but i know consistanly blizzard does rule the roost .so i think the merge should fare well. as with blizzard dont try to fix what is not broken

  • pigonthewing

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 4:18 pm PT

    To brightshadow525.

    Though many will say it will i doubt it will have much impact on how blizzard develops games. There may be some slight changes but they understand blizzard makes a lot of money in the way they create games and therefore will most likely not touch a tried and true formula that makes a lot of money.

    I wouldn't worry to much about it even though I am sure a lot of people will say otherwise.

  • JoshChambers

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 3:52 pm PT

    wow that was weird, when I made my post below it said it was Dec 31, 1969 at 4PM. WEIRD

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