When the harassment cases broke out at Activision-Blizzard over the summer, the big names in the sector did not react immediately to this story. Everything accelerated when Bobby Kotick spoke following an investigation by the wall street journalrevealing his involvement and role in many of the cases that have erupted over the summer.
Phil Spencer was the first to speak out on the subject among the top three automakers, saying ” reevaluate » the relationship between Activision-Blizzard and Microsoft. A few weeks later, the takeover of the publisher was formalized by Microsoft, and we learn that the conversations leading up to this buyout started just days after Phil Spencer’s reaction.
A week that changed everything
This is a new article from the CBNC site that reveals the timing of this whole story, thanks to an official document that will be used to regulate this takeover, which is currently under investigation by the FTC.
November 16the Wall Street Journal investigation was making headlines. The next dayPhil Spencer reacted officially to the case, wishing to reassess the relationship between Microsoft and the publisher. Only three days later, discussions beganwith Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella who called Bobby Kotick to explore the idea of a buyout.
Microsoft’s first offer then was to offer $80 per share. An offer relayed by Spencer to Kotick on November 26. Negotiations then continued, until an agreement was reached for $95 per share, with an offer made public on January 18. So it all happened incredibly fast, especially on the scale of other takeovers like Sony’s Bungie, which took months.
Before seeing Microsoft as the white knight who would have intended to buy the publisher following deals to improve the corporate culture of Activision-Blizzard, it should also be noted that the company’s stock market share fell by 11% between November 16 and 20. So between the end of the investigation and the start of negotiations. In other words, Microsoft waited for the perfect timing and jumped at the chance to see Activision struggle a little on the stock market in order to come up with an offer that was hard to refuse.
A good strategy on the part of the manufacturer, which materialized with the biggest takeover in the history of the industry. It now remains to know the consequences of this takeover, which should be effective by June 2023, unless the FTC comes to put its two cents in the story.