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Activision Blizzard May Be For Sale

Anybody have some spare cash lying around?

According to a new Bloomberg report, gaming's biggest third-party publisher might be on the auction block.

It seems senior executives of Activision Blizzard parent Vivendi will meet later this month to consider a sale of the corporation's game producer. The information comes via "people with knowledge of the matter" and the upcoming meeting is set for June 22, where the possible sale of Activision will be "the main point of discussion." Evidently, Vivendi has been meeting with investors to discuss reorganization options, including spinning off the cable TV division Canal Plus.

Maybe Disney wants to step up. Apple...? I have no idea; both could be completely out of the question, and I'm just trying to come up with companies that have the resources to pull this off.

Tags: activision, activision blizzard, activision sale, vivendi

6/8/2012 10:09:49 AM Ben Dutka

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Comments (28 posts)

Underdog15
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 10:53:18 AM
Reply

Better question: Would it even be sold to one solitary buyer... maybe it's ownership will be sold off by the percentage!

Heck if a big company like Apple or whatever wanted to own it, they only need to buy 51% of it. Sell the rest to multiple investors who just want to come along for the ride!

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Sir Shak
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 3:15:51 PM

They only own 54% of Activision-Blizzard.

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hellish_devil
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 11:03:59 AM
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Nintendo please buy them so we get no more call of duty and the videogames industry can return to what it was without 80%+ of games released being shooters.

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JLB1
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 2:23:26 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Blizzard just apart of the Activision family? Blizzard doesn't run the CoD franchise, Blizzard does World of Warcraft(along with other titles I don't know atm). They have nothing to do with CoD.
Last edited by JLB1 on 6/8/2012 2:26:17 PM

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Fane1024
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 4:50:36 PM

JLB, "Activision Blizzard" is both parts of the company, not just the Blizzard part.

Though I suppose it's possible the two divisions could be sold separately, depending on how the merger was implemented.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 6/8/2012 4:52:51 PM

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JLB1
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 8:36:01 PM

@Fane1024

Makes sense. Thanks for clearing it up.

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kraygen
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 11:04:03 AM
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I'm more interested in why exactly they would want to sell.

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blaqsmyth
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 11:54:59 AM
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It would be even better if sony bought it......XBOX stocks would drop so hard it wouldn't even be funny.
Without call of duty XBOX would be nothing

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Soultaker
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 12:28:27 PM
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Sony buys activision blizzard and we get MORE EXCLUSIVES!

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jimmyhandsome
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 12:39:34 PM
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Why didn't Vivendi sell Activision off when they were trading at a much higher stock price? Seems like a stupid move

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R3ZR
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 12:49:07 PM
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If Sony buys Activision...would there be a possibility of an exclusive Crash Bandicoot again? One can dream right?

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BikerSaint
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 12:49:25 PM
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I'd laugh my arse off if EA stepped up & grabbed Antivision......and then kicked games-hating Kotex to the curb!!!!

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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 1:13:56 PM
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Someone has foreseen the fall of CoD and realized there's nothing else in Activision's playbook. Recall Kotex!

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 1:25:11 PM

HA.

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Comic Shaman
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 2:25:08 PM

Very likely. I think there are many signs that COD's popularity has peaked, and that's why Activision is considered to be overvalued right now. A ripe time for Vivendi to cash in, I guess.

Which is why I think it's unlikely that Apple, Disney, Sony, or even Microsoft will take the bait on this. I think these companies know the market well enough to see what's going on.

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Ludicrous_Liam
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 1:36:35 PM
Reply

"Maybe Disney wants to step up. Apple...? I have no idea; both could be completely out of the question, and I'm just trying to come up with companies that have the resources to pull this off."

Honestly, I can think only a small country would think of buying it, and would be able to use it to generate cash for the entirety of their industries xD

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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 3:22:09 PM

Botswana here I come.

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LowKey
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 6:59:01 PM

You just made me think of Earnest Scared Stupid, I lol'd a little

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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 8:26:53 PM

Love Ernest, may he rest in peace Vern.

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JLB1
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 2:26:25 PM
Reply

Perhaps Blizzard is on the decline?

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NiteKrawler
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 2:32:23 PM

With the very recent release of Diablo 3 and the huge WoW base? Not likely.

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Axe99
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 4:52:23 PM

Aye, but despite the success of WoW and CoD, Activision actually doesn't make a lot of money. I personally think it's due to horrible mismanagement of their dev houses (how can you lose money when you've got WoW and CoD under the same roof?!) For this reason, and like others have suggested, I'd say that unless it's going cheap, Activision will likely be overpriced. Sure, CoD, D3 and WoW will continue to bring in revenue, and have potential (even if their best days, sales wise, are likely behind them), but I reckon there's a lot of work to be done to turn Activision from a rather bloated organisation into one focussed on efficiently making great games, and then making money from them.

Just my 2 cents, based on hunches and wet fingers poked in the air!

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LowKey
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 7:01:30 PM

HAHA overpriced like their dlc and COD Elite.

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Lawless SXE
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 7:30:57 PM
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Microsoft. They're already bed buddies, and you can't deny that MS has the cash to splash.

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gray_eagle
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 7:42:29 PM
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thats a scary thought, M$ makes the deal.

imo, someone from the outside makkng the deal, would be better for the gamming industry.
but this is the right pickings for M$, they love control.

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556pineapple
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 10:26:53 PM
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If true, this is history in the making. I'm definitely going to be following this one.

We could only hope Sony would, but that's pretty unlikely. Still, one could hope!

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___________
Saturday, June 09, 2012 @ 8:38:28 AM
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why the hell would you sell them now!?
BO2 has shattered preorder numbers set by MW3 which is the worlds biggest selling game, so why the hell would you sell the company before the best selling game in history releases?
unless there planing this for down the road.
however same question still applies with bungies game releasing late 2013 early 2014, so again with the 3 biggest developers in the industry, treyarch, IW, and bungie, why the hell would you sell the company!?
antivisions stock can only go one way for the foreseeable future, and thats through the freaking roof!

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Deleted User
Sunday, June 10, 2012 @ 10:45:50 PM
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Microsoft seems like the kind of dumb company that would waste their money buying Activision Blizzard. Heck, they already are in the sack with them. However, they would be buying a company that I think has zero creativity in their IPs, which MS probably thinks doesn't matter as long as schmucks keep buying 5 360s because they see MS as the "cool" console that all the 12 year old fartknockers who have made online gaming a punchline to me love.

When that inevitable video game crash comes, Microsoft is going to be the reason why it occurs. They have done irreparable damage to the industry, have suppressed creativity save for those $1 indie games, have dumbed down the image of the video gamer and have basically got the morons of the U.S. and U.K. around their fingers, making a console that is as durable as a Coleco Gemini and making it equally easy to pirate.

If MS wants to purchase AB and think it will guarantee victory in the so-called 8th generation, let them. Then when the AB cash cow dries up, they will have wasted billions of money again. Of course, as long as they have their blind shareholders and moron U.S./U.K. populace around to fund their crud, it won't make a dint in their bottom line.

Maybe someday, the populace will smarten up.

Sorry. I had to get that off my chest.

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