Report – Vivendi may sell Acti-Blizz shares on open market

Friday, 13th July 2012 21:01 GMT By Stephany Nunneley

Bloomberg’s reporting that Vivendi’s having a hard time selling its stake in Activision. According to sources close to the matter, the companies Vivendi has had discussions with either don’t have $8.1 billion lying around, or the companies with the funds to spare aren’t interested. Discussions with Disney, Microsoft, Tencent, and Take Two have all taken place, and while Nexon is interested, it can’t afford Activision. Bloomberg said the only option Vivendi has should a buyout fall through is to put its shares on the open market which would cause share prices to plummet due to over supply and little demand for the stock. Additionally, with the games industry in a huge financial funk, many investors may shy away from purchasing stock in the company. You can read more on the financial site’s theories through the link.

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  1. OrbitMonkey

    Let me just check down the back of my sofa… Nope just the finished code for The Last Guardian and no-one wants that either!

    #1 2 years ago
  2. pukem0n

    why dont they just sell a portion now to make some money and then later, after the stock price has risen again after call of duty 1337 problem warfare 42 and sell the rest then?
    activision makes money, its their other divisions which lose them

    #2 2 years ago
  3. revengemadmax

    Well all i can say is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO where did i put thouse shares!!!

    if i had shares in love id give them away to you all!! or maybe id sell them for millions!!

    i cant decide!

    either way this Activision shares on the open market is not a problem…

    unless they see a crash in the gaming market cropping up soon?

    i guess they are a little higher up in the wtf is going on chair and they might see a little further down the road than us chaps?

    i talk crap.. thats what i do..

    i have a youtube channel btw!! i have zero followers!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA

    no rly

    #3 2 years ago
  4. Erthazus

    I just want one thing.

    I just want Activision or vivendi or whatever to sell blizzard to someone else.

    #4 2 years ago
  5. OrbitMonkey

    ^ They should defo sell Blizzard to EA, match made in heaven…

    #5 2 years ago
  6. Erthazus

    @5, OMG No.

    #6 2 years ago
  7. TMRNetShark

    @6 what are you complaining about? They are already as bad as EA… >.>

    #7 2 years ago
  8. DSB

    Ouch. It hurts to be a semi-succesful publisher up for sale these days.

    Too profitable to be a steal, and yet still too risky to be an attractive investment.

    #8 2 years ago
  9. Kabby

    ‘to’ is missing from the title.

    #9 2 years ago
  10. DSB

    It’s really not, it’s a new way of writing headlines. Less words, same meaning.

    #10 2 years ago
  11. OlderGamer

    There was a stock sell off during the Atari 2600 days(towards the end). It was one of the reasons the industry crashed. Too many investers had investments that where worth very little in a very short peroid of time.

    I think Vivendi selling Acti stock on open market could be a bad idea.

    #11 2 years ago
  12. Phoenixblight

    Vivendi is just trying to sell off their shares to get out of the industry. Its not some doomsday sign. They have been wanting too for awhile they just feel now is the time to do it.


    Also comparing a time when anyone that knew how to create a loop could make a game to now is a completely different situations.

    #12 2 years ago
  13. OlderGamer

    I need to make such a sign, Pb.


    Or maybe get a T-Shirt printed up!


    #13 2 years ago
  14. DSB

    OG has a point though. The only major publishers that are actually stable right now are Activision, Ubisoft and Microsoft.

    Square Enix, Sony, Take Two and EA are all dropping in a big way, some of those going even lower than when the markets crashed. That’s something like 80% or more of the value that they had before, just gone.

    They’ll bounce back once the market realizes they’re too low for what they’re worth, but if the single most profitable publisher gets brutally devalued, they could well all be fucked.

    If you don’t want to buy Activision, you also don’t want to buy EA. If you don’t want to buy EA, you also don’t want to buy Square Enix etc.

    Like OG says, all it takes is someone to lead them off the cliff.

    It’s far from impossible, even though I think they’re going to find some kind of compromise. Activision’s problem is that they’re doing well in a business that’s doing anything but, right now.

    So they’re worth a lot in a market that generally isn’t.

    #14 2 years ago
  15. Phoenixblight

    Vivendi has been trying to get out of the industry for awhile its why they put Activision and Blizzard under one roof so they can sell it in one piece only they were making them money so they kept them longer. They now feel like now is a time as any to make as much as they can and get out.

    #15 2 years ago
  16. DSB

    @15 How does that change anything? If Activision gets devalued, everybody else stands to follow.

    #16 2 years ago
  17. OlderGamer

    @DSB +1, exactly my point.

    #17 2 years ago
  18. Phoenixblight


    Vivendi wants to remove its game corporation and to get as much money as they can. I doubt Activision shares being sold has an effect on their games. Its not like they are in THQ position.

    #18 2 years ago
  19. DSB

    @18 Greater share = Greater power = Greater value.

    If they’re going to be splitting the pot, it’s going to be worth considerably less.

    That’s essentially why I think they’re going to throw a hail mary before letting that happen.

    They’ll be willing to sell for less, because it’ll still be worth more than a free for all on the market.

    All you have to do is imagine one of the first questions in a negotiation with Vivendi. “So, your subsidiary is worth a lot of money right now. Do you see that improving going forward?” and then you pull out the stockcharts of EA, Square Enix, Sony and Take Two.

    There’s no way Activision is selling for the optimum price.

    #19 2 years ago
  20. Phoenixblight


    Yeah that effects activision but its not like Activision is mass producing titles that has a tight rein on the industry. It doesn’t. Vivendi wants out they have for a while now and will spend that money they get on another venture they feel will be more profitable. I doubt this means that industry is dying or doomed like the crash which happened because of over saturation and no regulation because any noob with basic programming could make and sell a game even if it was crap.

    #20 2 years ago
  21. Ireland Michael

    @20 Call of Duty doesn’t have a tight reign on the industry? It’s practically defining it right now. (unfortunately)

    #21 2 years ago
  22. DSB

    @20 Yeah, it’s not like there’s any kind of impending doom, but it is an industry-wide slump already, and it would arguably be the worst possible time for Activision to join the rest in a massive drop.

    If it happened, I think it would really hurt the industry. It might not be doom, but you’d be looking at a lot of closed studios, cancelled projects and pink slips.

    #22 2 years ago
  23. Phoenixblight


    I am not seeing a downside. Activision needs a good kick in the ass for focusing on WOW and COD.

    #23 2 years ago
  24. DSB

    @23 Yeah, I think the industry is due for a wake-up call in a big way.

    I think Activision’s is inevitable. It doesn’t look to me like they have the IPs or the studios to really compete once CoD burns out and WoW bottoms out.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if they pull it out of their ass at the last minute, but beyond buying Take Two or THQ, I don’t see a fast way of doing that.

    Regardless, it would be a shame if Activision dropping means losing a lot of talent with other publishers, that is actually worth saving.

    #24 2 years ago
  25. Phoenixblight

    I agree with you that industry will be going in a different direction and will be changing how things are being done especially with the increase of cost for production but I don’t think it will crash. Publishers and devs will have to start thinking even more modular and not always go for triple A titles to make a profit.

    #25 2 years ago
  26. DSB

    Yup. I just don’t think they’re ready for that at all.

    #26 2 years ago
  27. Phoenixblight


    FIrst few years in Next Gen will do that. I think there are some devs that can think on their feet with change but others will just have to adapt. The good thing about this industry is that it recycles its talent.

    #27 2 years ago
  28. Gheritt White

    All this is only sabre rattling from Vivendi to try and get the best deal out out of potential purchasers. Of *course* somebody will buy Activision – my money’s on Warner or Microsoft and I seriously hope it’s *not* WB. They simply wouldn’t know what to do with it… unless they replaced the whole of WB Games’ staff with Activison’s, then it * might* work.

    #28 2 years ago
  29. DSB

    I don’t think that works when you’re trying to sell something Gheritt.

    Threatening to shoot yourself in the foot unless you get what you want isn’t likely to impress anyone.

    8 billion dollars is a good number for where they’re at right now. They’re making a billion a year in sheer profit off a 4 billion dollar revenue. In comparison EA is keeping 74 million out of a 4 billion dollar revenue.

    Which is saying nothing for the assets they have. You could basically buy Activision, empty out the company Gordon Gecko style, and likely still walk away with a profit.

    #29 2 years ago
  30. Gheritt White

    I’ve just seen this all before, s’all. They’re just trying to get potential suitors to make more attractive offers. It’s not a strategy that’s guaranteed to work, but there’s no way Vivendi would actually sell Activison-Blizzard share by share on the open market.

    #30 2 years ago
  31. laughing-gravy

    I have to agree with a lot of the comments on here about potentially bad times ahead for Activision. I mean who would have guessed that the Diablo 3 launch could have ran into so many problems. Blizzard were the doyenne of the PC gaming community and now their halo seems to be slipping.

    It looks as if the crash that happened to the PC gaming scene is happening everywhere now. Endless FPS’s, RPG’s etc and no originality is killing our beloved pastime. And yet it’s precisely these genres that Activision rely on. Very worrying!

    #31 2 years ago