Judge OKs $275 Million Activision Settlement

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A Delaware judge has approved a $275 million shareholder settlement that ends a shareholder lawsuit against Santa Monica videogame publisher Activision Blizzard Inc.

Activision agreed to the settlement last year. The deal puts to rest a lawsuit stemming from an $8 billion deal in which the company and an investor group regained majority control from French conglomerate Vivendi SA.

The lawsuit claimed Activision President and Chief Executive Bobby Kotick and Co-Chairman Brian Kelly breached their fiduciary duties by joining the investor group known as ASAC, which, together with Activision, purchased 88 percent of Vivendi’s Activision shares. Confusingly, the suit was filed on behalf of Activision, and the settlement money will be paid to the company by Vivendi, insurance companies and, likely, the investor group that included Kotick and Kelly.

The big winners in the settlement are the small law firms that originally brought the case. Wilmington, Delaware’s Friedlander and Gorris and New York’s Bragar Eagel will share an award of $72.5 million.

Delaware Judge Travis Laster said the fee is justified because the firms’ partners turned away other work and took out loans to pay for the case, according to a Reuters report.

Activision representatives did not return requests for comment.

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