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Microsoft launches Activision acquisition after saying it is ‘deeply troubled’ by scandal reports
As Microsoft plans to acquire Activision Blizzard this year, new filings with U.S. regulators provide more details on the acquisition, including a timeline that appears to have been made by Microsoft due to the ongoing scandal surrounding Activision Blizzard. acquired.Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission detail The timeline for the acquisition, prior to the announcement, began on November 19 and ended on January 17.
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer first pitched the idea to Activision’s Bobby Kotick on November 19, 2021, just three days after a Wall Street Journal story about Kotick’s scandal included He worked hard to cover up details of harassment within Activision Blizzard Game Studios, as well as his own bad behavior.
Notably, the 19th was the day after Spencer said on the Xbox team that they were “disturbed and deeply disturbed by Activision Blizzard’s horrific events and actions” and that he was “evaluating Microsoft’s relationship with Activision Blizzard.” All aspects”, “to make ongoing proactive adjustments.” Apparently, the discussions that led to the takeover call arose “in the course of conversations between Mr. Spencer and Mr. Kotick on different topics.”
So the aggressive tweaks Spencer is making may just be convincing Microsoft’s board to buy Activision Blizzard so he can figure things out on his own. The $68.7 billion deal is one of the largest corporate acquisitions in history.
The deal is likely to go ahead, because when we spoke to a lawyer about it, he pointed out that regulators don’t really have the power to block it.
The SEC filing noted that the deal moved fairly quickly before it was handed over to attorneys to develop a contract. Kotick and Spencer spoke with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Nov. 20, and as of Nov. 26, they made a rough $80-a-share offer. This was apparently serious enough that negotiations began in earnest, law firms got involved, and by December 16, the two sides had agreed on a price of $95.