Microsoft (MSFT34) bought Activision Blizzard (ATVI34) for $68.7 billion; Earned stake jumps 26%

to Microsoft (MSFT34) announced on Tuesday (18) the purchase of Activision Blizzard (ATVI34), one of the most successful gaming companies, in a deal worth $68.7 billion, the largest deal in the industry.

“When the deal closes, Microsoft will be the world’s third largest gaming company by revenue, after Tencent and Sony,” the company said in a statement.

The acquisition includes premium games from Activision, Blizzard and King such as Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty, Candy Crush, in addition to global esports activities through Major League Games.

Activision Blizzard has nearly 400 million monthly active players in 190 countries and multi-billion dollar franchises.

Microsoft offered $95 per asset, which is a 45% premium to the Activision Blizzard stake that closed last Friday (14) session.

Activision’s assets are up 25.88% on Nasdaq at $82.31, while Microsoft’s assets are down 2.43% at $302.65. In B3, the . file contains BDRs (Brazilian Depository Receipts) ATVI34 shares rose 26.52% to R$452.11 while MSFT34 shares fell 1.34% to R$70.15.

Controversies involving the company

Activision Blizzard’s sale comes amid a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the California Department of Employment and Housing in July 2021 against the company.

Last Monday, Activision announced measures to crack down on harassment and sexual harassment at the company, saying it was seeking interim measures to resolve the issue as well as improving its internal policy on conduct and work ethics.

After completing some analysis, the company laid off about thirty-seven employees and received forty-four notifications such as warnings and official notices, the company reported the day before in a memo.

In a note about the previous day’s announcement of Activision, Levante Ideias de Investimentos highlighted that the specter of ethical behavior at work continues to detract from the company’s stock, a standard in the video game development and entertainment market.

Activision Blizzard is a giant company, which arose from the merger of Activision and Blizzard Entertainment that took place in 2008 which are two electronic games and entertainment developers with great game franchises recognized worldwide. He noted that in the last quarter of last year, the company recorded a net income of 2.07 billion, with earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) of $824 million, converging with earnings per share of $0.82.”

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