by Jonathan Stempel
OMAHA, Nebraska, April 30 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N CEO Warren Buffett said on Saturday the U.S. holding company had taken a 9.5% stake in Activision Blizzard ATVI.O, a take majority stake acquired after the announcement by Microsoft MSFT.O of the takeover of the video game publisher for the record sum of 68.7 billion dollars (59.5 billion euros).
The 91-year-old businessman unveiled this investment at Berkshire Hathaway’s general meeting, which was held for the first time in “face-to-face” since 2019 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Alongside Warren Buffett, his right arm Charlie Munger, 98, as well as Vice President Greg Abel, Buffett’s dolphin.
Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in the publisher of the “Call of Duty”, “Overwatch” or “Candy Crush” franchises is worth $5.6 billion.
The American computer giant Microsoft announced on January 18 its intention to buy Activision Blizzard
nL8N2TY40U .
The Federal Trade Commission (TFC), the US public agency responsible for controlling anti-competitive business practices, must examine the validity of the operation.
(Reporting Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Nebraska; Megan Davies in New York, French version Sophie Louet)