Activision Blizzard acquires Candy Crush makers for $5.9 billion

Activision Blizzard and King Digital Entertainment plc have announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which ABS Partners C.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, will acquire all of the outstanding shares of King for a total equity value of $5.9 billion.

The boards of directors of both Activision Blizzard and King unanimously approved the Acquisition, which is being implemented by means of a scheme of arrangement under Irish law. The Acquisition is subject to approval by King's shareholders and the Irish High Court, clearances by the relevant antitrust authorities and other customary closing conditions, and it is currently expected that the Acquisition will be completed by Spring 2016.

Activision Blizzard believes that the addition of King's business will position Activision Blizzard as a global leader in interactive entertainment across mobile, console and PC platforms, and positions the company for future growth. The combined company will have two of the top five highest-grossing mobile games in the U.S. (Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga), join the world's most successful console game franchise (Call of Duty), and the world's most successful personal computing franchise (World of Warcraft), as well as other well known franchises under Activision and Blizzard.

This Acquisition will create one of the largest global entertainment networks with over half a billion combined monthly active users in 196 countries. Through this Acquisition, Activision Blizzard will become a global leader in mobile gaming-the largest and fastest-growing area of interactive entertainment, that is expected to generate over $36 billion of revenue by the end of 2015 and grow cumulatively by over 50% from 2015 to 2019.

The management believe that this deal will make Activision Blizzard one of the most profitable standalone Interactive Entertainment companies in the World. During the last twelve months Activision Blizzard had revenues of $4.7 billion and King had adjusted revenues of $2.1 billion. Activision Blizzard believes the Acquisition will be accretive to 2016 estimated revenues and earnings per share by approximately 30% and significantly accretive to 2016 estimated free cash flow per share.

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