Pachter: No “readily apparent buyers” for Activision Blizzard

a spin off of acti-blizz? What he mean?

*Meanwhile at EA*

Quick! We need to make 6 billion dollars to buy ActiBlizz! Then we will rule the world and make Blizzard make console games! XD

I believe Microsoft has much to gain from shelling out the 6 billion dollars… for starters… they can make Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive.

@2 I as just going to say that.

Microsoft could easily afford this. And with a 60% share in the company, that would essentially have full reign to do whatever the fuck they wanted.

On a different note… good lord, Vivendi is such a goddamn relic. Their draconian business practices and complete inability to move with the times is going to kill them sooner rather than later, if something doesn’t change sooner rather than later. This mess is entirely their own fault.

I’m confused.. why are they selling Blizzard? Aren’t blizz their main money makers with wow and sc2 and d3?

@4 Yes, but their debt is so staggering they have no way to pay it off.

Short term gain vs. long term profit. It’s a pedesteianly American business approach,

I’m still confused, clearly I’m not a business person but if at one point they had 10 *million* active subs, then err.. that’s a lot of money. More than I can count. More than the running costs of wow and staffing costs of blizz, times a million if not more.

Unless they’re throwing 500 dollar bills out of their windows or into bonfires I don’t see how they can be in such debt.

@6

I can see why. It’s about time it happened to Blizzard. They haven’t been the same since that merger with Activsion. I don’t blame any company for not jumping at the change to purchase this mess.

Vivendi is the most confusing conglomerate. can some one explaine brieflly who they are?

@8

Basically Vivendi is a multinational mass media and telecommunication company. The company has activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivendi

Wait! so all their departments are losing money except their video games department. So they want to sell it!? I’m confused!

And if you’re going to tell me that not all of their departments are losing money then explain to me how can they have such staggering losses when their video games department can generate such incredible profit.

Microsoft is not able to afford this: they have to write of 6,2 Billion USD!

http://news.yahoo.com/microsoft-6-2-billion-accounting-charge-205524380–finance.html

@11

Microsoft’s operating profit in 2011 was $23 billion on revenue of almost $70 billion.

They can afford it.

Would be an interesting purchase for MS, but think they’d need all of it wouldn’t they? Activision is a huge multi-platform publisher. Buying 60% and then devaluing the company by going single platform for the benefit of your own company would surely be a bit of a no-no?

@13

Indeed. Would be funny though, seeing as Bungie wanted out of MS, went to Acti, only for MS to buy them again