14 DAY TRIAL // After being announced last fall, in a move that completely surprised the videogame industry, the merger between Activision and Vivendi Games is now one step closer to becoming a reality. One clear indication of that is the fact that Activision stockholders have received an e-mail invitation to a vote regarding the merger.
The voting will take place in Beverly Hills, California on July 8. It is expected that no problems will arise when it comes to the shareholders approving the merger. After the meeting takes place and the measure is put to the vote, the only organism that can stop the deal from going through is the American Securities and Exchange Commission. The European Commission has already given the greenlight to the merger between Vivendi and Activision, but the SEC might need some more time in reviewing the process to make sure that no anti-trust issues arise.
After the merger goes through, Activision Blizzard will be valued at around 19 billion dollars. The headquarters are expected to be in Santa Monica, with current Activision Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick becoming the head honcho of the new company. The nature of the deal is rather complicated. Sierra will be integrated in Activision's company structure and will disappear as a videogame publisher, a fact that has already sparked some alarm that titles that are now under development at Sierra might be canceled. Blizzard, which is also currently part of Vivendi Games, will be left as an autonomous element in the new company, free to pursue its own projects with minimal outside interference.
Vivendi, the big French media company, will have a controlling interest in Activision Blizzard and is expected to push for a more fluid development cycle aimed at creating more games and generating more profits. The new company will arguably be the biggest videogames company in the world, with assets such as Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.