Microsoft buying Activision in $68.7B deal

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard Inc., the maker of ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Candy Crush’, in a deal worth $68.7 billion, the companies announced on Tuesday and embattled CEO Bobby Kotick will remain in his role at the video-game maker.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
MSFT	MICROSOFT CORP.	430.98	+7.52	+1.78%
ATVI	NO DATA AVAILABLE	-	-	-

The software giant will pay $95.00 per share for the video game maker, in an all-cash transaction making Microsoft the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. Activision shares are on pace for the largest increase since July of 1994 when it rose 50%.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
SONY	SONY GROUP CORP.	20.05	+0.29	+1.47%
TCEHY	TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD.	51.6	+0.13	+0.25%

"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," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. "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."

ACTIVISION COO: WE HAVE ALOT OF WORK TO DO AMID CONDUCT PROBE

Electronic Arts, Take-Two and Zenga rose in a down market as traders weighed the possibility of more M&A.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
EA	ELECTRONIC ARTS INC.	163.67	+0.57	+0.35%
TTWO	TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE INC.	188.38	+2.82	+1.52%
ZNGA	NO DATA AVAILABLE	-	-	-

(Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity Fair / Getty Images)

Kotick, who has been under pressure amid allegations of running a workplace fraught with misconduct, is Activision's largest individual shareholder owning 2.84 million shares as tracked by Thomson Financial.

Once the deal closes, the unit will fall under Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft gaming.

The deal is expected to close in fiscal year 2023.