Activision Merger Closes

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Vivendi SA has completed the merger of its video game business with Activision Inc., a combination joins popular titles such as “Guitar Hero” with the biggest online game, “World of Warcraft.”

Vivendi owns 54 percent of outstanding stock in the combined company, now called Activision Blizzard, and will begin a tender offer to buy an additional $4 billion in shares within five days, the companies said in a statement Thursday. Activision Blizzard will continue to be based in Santa Monica and trade under old Activision’s Nasdaq ticker symbol, “ATVI.”

“We have created the world leader in online and console games with this transaction,” Vivendi Chief Executive Officer Jean Bernard Levy said in the statement.

More than 92 percent of eligible shares voted on Tuesday, but specific voting results were not disclosed.

Vivendi is buying 62.9 million newly issued Activision shares at $27.50 each for a total of about $1.7 billion in cash. In addition, shares of Vivendi Games will be converted into 295 million new shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share, for a value of $8.1 billion.

Rene Penisson, previously chairman of Vivendi Games, will hold the same position in the new company. Robert Kotick, who was chairman and chief executive of Activision, will be president and CEO of Activision Blizzard.

Activision shares were unchanged Thursday after falling $1.65 to $30.07 on Wednesday still well above the $27.50 Vivendi plans to offer.

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