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11-16-2011, 01:30 PM
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French media conglomerate Vivendi, majority owner of Activision Blizzard, sold three percent of its stock in the publishing giant, valued at around $427 million. It now owns 60 percent. The reduction of ownership in the company that, thanks to a little game called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, just had the largest entertainment launch of all time (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/11/11/modern-warfare-3-sells-6-5m-in-biggest-day-one-ever/), came as a surprise.
As the Financial Times (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32ea2dfe-0fbf-11e1-a36b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1dt3fr5fk) reports, the prevailing theory is that Vivendi's $1.9 billion acquisition of EMI's music business (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDWm0HWFRnA) last week required the company to create some quick cash to stay sexy on paper.
"The wisdom of selling about three percent in a business that is one of the key bastions of growth for the group to aid a transformational acquisition in a challenged business, such as recorded music, seems questionable," Claudio Aspesi of Bernstein Research told the Financial Times.
"This is a tactical disposal with regards to our overall capital structure, and we remain committed to Activision and to being the main shareholder," a Vivendi spokesman told Reuters (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/15/vivendi-idUKL5E7MF37Q20111115). The company is gonna have to be if it wants to keep siphoning assets for its portfolio from a shrinking industry (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/03/uk-retail-game-sales-surpass-music-industry/).http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.joystiq.com)Vivendi sells $427 million in Activision Blizzard stock (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/11/16/vivendi-sells-427-million-in-activision-blizzard-stock/) originally appeared on Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com) on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
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French media conglomerate Vivendi, majority owner of Activision Blizzard, sold three percent of its stock in the publishing giant, valued at around $427 million. It now owns 60 percent. The reduction of ownership in the company that, thanks to a little game called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, just had the largest entertainment launch of all time (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/11/11/modern-warfare-3-sells-6-5m-in-biggest-day-one-ever/), came as a surprise.
As the Financial Times (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32ea2dfe-0fbf-11e1-a36b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1dt3fr5fk) reports, the prevailing theory is that Vivendi's $1.9 billion acquisition of EMI's music business (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDWm0HWFRnA) last week required the company to create some quick cash to stay sexy on paper.
"The wisdom of selling about three percent in a business that is one of the key bastions of growth for the group to aid a transformational acquisition in a challenged business, such as recorded music, seems questionable," Claudio Aspesi of Bernstein Research told the Financial Times.
"This is a tactical disposal with regards to our overall capital structure, and we remain committed to Activision and to being the main shareholder," a Vivendi spokesman told Reuters (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/15/vivendi-idUKL5E7MF37Q20111115). The company is gonna have to be if it wants to keep siphoning assets for its portfolio from a shrinking industry (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/03/uk-retail-game-sales-surpass-music-industry/).http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.joystiq.com)Vivendi sells $427 million in Activision Blizzard stock (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/11/16/vivendi-sells-427-million-in-activision-blizzard-stock/) originally appeared on Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com) on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
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