Microsoft Completes Largest Acquisition in 48 Years: Activision Blizzard
klinikfarma.com Microsoft has successfully completed the acquisition of the famous video game publisher, Activision Blizzard, for USD 69 billion or around Rp. 1,083 trillion, assuming the US dollar exchange rate against the rupiah is around 15,701.
The deal is Microsoft’s largest in its 48-year history. The acquisition was completed after Microsoft eased competition concerns from UK and European regulators and obtained a favorable ruling from a US district judge.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority gave its approval to the deal on Friday morning, paving the way for the acquisition to close. The deal was originally announced in January 2022, and gives Microsoft access to a portfolio of popular video game franchises including Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and Warcraft.
The game developer posted revenue of $7.5 billion in its most recent fiscal year, which is a fraction of Microsoft’s $212 billion.
“We’ll share more about when you can play in the coming months,” wrote Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, regarding plans to merge Activision Blizzard’s portfolio with Game Pass and other Microsoft platforms.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will remain as CEO through the end of the year. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who has led the company since 2014, has aimed to diversify the company’s business beyond its core areas of operating systems and productivity software. The acquisition of Activision Blizzard is a major step in that diversification effort, bringing the company into the gaming world with several popular franchises that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce.
