In a corporate buy-out of $8.2 billion by CEO Bobby Kotick’s investment group, Activision Blizzard is on its way to becoming an independent company. The publisher is set to buy 439 million shares from Vivendi, knocking their ownership down to 12 percent of the company, which Vivendi has been trying to sell for nearly a year.
Kotick is optimistic as the possibilities for independent status give more freedom to the publisher of games like Call of Duty, StarCraft, and World of WarCraft. Does this mean that we should expect more creativity out of the publishers? What does this hold for Blizzards presently in hiatus, Project Titan?
Kotick commented, “Our successful combination with Blizzard Entertainment five years ago brought together some of the best creative and business talent in the industry and some of the most beloved entertainment franchises in the world, including Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. Since that time, we have generated over $5.4 billion in operating cash flow and returned more than $4 billion of that to shareholders via buybacks and dividends. We are grateful for Vivendi’s partnership through this period, and we look forward to their continued support.”
All eyes are on Activision Blizzard, with World of WarCraft subs still in steady decline, what will be there next big project? With the possibility of retaining $3 billion cash on hand while investing in new opportunities, Activision Blizzard may be poised to grab an even greater market share in the future.
