Activision Blizzard splits from parent company Vivendi in $8.17bn buyout

Activision Blizzard and a group led by chief executive Bobby Kotick have agreed to buy out most of Vivendi’s stake in the biggest US video-game publisher for $8.17bn (€6.15bn), ending five years of control by the French media and telecommunications company.

Blizzard Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, employs around 600 people at a customer support centre in Co Cork which works mainly with the company’s World of Warcraft title.

The maker of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft will take on debt to purchase shares held by Paris-based Vivendi for $5.83bn in total. Kotick and his partners, who include co-chairman Brian Kelly, Chinese video- game publisher Tencent Holdings, Davis Advisors and Leonard Green & Partners, will pay $2.34bn.