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 Activision Blizzard Acquiring Candy Crush Saga Developer King for $5.9 Billion

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Activision Blizzard Acquiring Candy Crush Saga Developer King for $5.9 Billion Empty
PostSubject: Activision Blizzard Acquiring Candy Crush Saga Developer King for $5.9 Billion   Activision Blizzard Acquiring Candy Crush Saga Developer King for $5.9 Billion EmptyTue Nov 03, 2015 1:09 pm

Activision Blizzard will acquire social games giant King Digital Entertainment for a total equity value of US$5.9 billion, the companies jointly announced today.

Activision Blizzard subsidiary ABS Partners C.V. will acquire all of the outstanding shares of the Candy Crush Saga developer for $18.00 in cash per share for the US$5.9 billion total. The acquisition, still subject to approval by King’s shareholders, the Irish High Court, antitrust authorities, is expected to be finalized by Spring (Northern Hemisphere) 2016.

According to the announcement, Activision Blizzard believes the performance-topping portfolio of games at both companies and knowledge across diverse monetization models will boost its position in the interactive entertainment industry. The company behind Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Guitar Hero, Skylanders and Destiny wants to be the leader across both PC, consoles and mobile.

“The combined revenues and profits solidify our position as the largest, most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement. “With a combined global network of more than half a billion monthly active users, our potential to reach audiences around the world on the device of their choosing enables us to deliver great games to even bigger audiences than ever before.”

Activision Blizzard will use King’s immense social gaming community to cross-promote its leading franchises to a wider audience and engage new players. The publisher also hopes to tap King’s experience in monetization models to meet “evolving player preferences and reach new untapped audiences.” To increase digital revenues, Activision Blizzard will apply King’s mobile know-how of microtransactions, game analytics and mobile marketing to its portfolio.

“We will combine our expertise in mobile and free-to-play with Activision Blizzard’s world-class brands and proven track record of building and sustaining the most successful franchises, to bring the best games in the world to millions of players worldwide,” King CEO Riccardo Zacconi said. “We have two teams that, together, will have an amazing footprint, innovative technology, and leadership across platforms, and unique, established IPs to delight one of the largest networks of players in the world.”

Zacconi, Chief Creative Officer Sebastian Knutsson, and Chief Operating Officer Stephane Kurga will continue to lead King under the aquisition. The social game company will operate as an independent unit while enjoying additional resources from its parent company.

King is the developer of mobile sensations such as Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Soda Saga, two of the top five highest-grossing mobile games in the U.S. The first Candy Crush hit the market as a Facebook game in 2012, then later launched across a variety of smartphone platforms. At one point, the series was deemed so successful that the King founders were declared more rich than the creators of Grand Theft Auto.

During the year ended 30 September 2015, King had adjusted revenues of US$2.1 billion and a profit of US$600 million. However, in May, the developer saw a fall in shares as low as 14 percent following the report of "softer" revenue expectations in the first financial quarter. Despite the dip, Activision Blizzard noted today that the mobile gaming industry is expected to generate more than US$36 billion of revenue by the end of year and grow cumulatively by over 50 percent from 2015 to 2019.

The Irish-based company was the subject of controversy over the years. For instance, King attempted to trademark the words "Candy" and "Saga" and filed a Notice of Opposition with The Banner Saga developer Stoic Studio.
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Activision Blizzard Acquiring Candy Crush Saga Developer King for $5.9 Billion Empty
PostSubject: Re: Activision Blizzard Acquiring Candy Crush Saga Developer King for $5.9 Billion   Activision Blizzard Acquiring Candy Crush Saga Developer King for $5.9 Billion EmptyTue Nov 03, 2015 5:50 pm

WoW/CC crossover confirmed
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Activision Blizzard Acquiring Candy Crush Saga Developer King for $5.9 Billion

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