By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has announced it is to buy Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) for $95.00 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion, inclusive of Activision’s net cash.
The deal represents a 45% premium to the closing price of Activision’s shares from Friday 14th January.
In a press release on Microsoft’s website, the tech giant said that Bobby Kotick will remain as CEO of Activision Blizzard, and he and his team will “maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company’s culture and accelerate business growth”.
“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. “We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all.”
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and completion of regulatory review and Activision Blizzard shareholder approval.
Microsoft said the deal is expected to close in fiscal year 2023 and will be accretive to non-GAAP earnings per share upon close.
The transaction has been approved by the boards of both companies.
At 13:40GMT, Microsoft shares were lower by 2.0% in pre-market trade. Activision Blizzard shares have been halted but prior to the trading halt were trading higher by 37%.