Blizzard's success

Beijing time July 26 afternoon news, French media giant Vivendi announced today that it plans to 8.2 billion U.S. dollars in the price of its holdings as a 85% of Blizzard shares, to resell the video game developers and their management.

It is reported that Vivendi will sell the shares at a price of $13.60 per share, which is 10% lower than the Thursday closing price of blizzard. After the deal is completed, Vivendi will still hold 83 million shares of the blizzard, with a stake of 12% per cent.

In the weeks before, the industry has been rumoured to have been seeking to sell the stakes in the Vivendi Blizzard. Still, the move is a bit of a surprise, as the company began betting its future on media assets at the start of a strategic restructuring review last year, when it failed to sell 61% per cent of its Vivendi, while Blizzard was also the largest and most lucrative media business.

Vivendi said the company would focus its media content strategy on Global music group operations, Canal plus pay-TV, and other Vivendi-owned entertainment businesses. Vivendi CFO Philippe Kaplen, Philippe Capron, said in a statement: "Vivendi will be able to reduce liabilities as a result of the sale of blizzard profits, and we will continue to benefit from further appreciation of the blizzard, which we still hold 12% per cent." ”

As part of the reorganisation, Vivendi announced earlier this week that it planned to sell its Maroc EADS stake at € 4.2 billion (about $5.56 billion). Vivendi said it would sell some of the proceeds of the blizzard stake to repay the debt, maintain the current credit rating, and how the remainder would be used, and it would be up to the board to decide.

After months of hard negotiations, it is good news for the video game developer and management that Blizzard has finally succeeded in "getting the ransom". According to people familiar with the situation, the blizzard also formed a special committee composed of independent directors to assess the various options facing the company, such as the Vivendi sale of some equity shares, the issuance of special dividends to the parent company, and finally the agreement of the Special Committee By the view of the blizzard management to buy Vivendi stake. Blizzard announced in Friday morning that it would spend $5.83 billion to buy back 429 million shares from Vivendi.

In addition, an investment consortium led by Bobby Cordick Blizzard's CEO, Bobby Kotick, and Blaine Kelly, Brian Kelly, will buy about 172 million blizzard shares from Vivendi at a price of 2.34 billion dollars, thereby owning 24.9 % of the equity. The consortium also includes companies such as Davis Advisors, Leonard Green &, Tencent and Fidelity investment.