avianflu wrote on Jul 11, 2012, 12:52:
games sales are way down across the board and since the recession started. It is reasonable in that light to put Activision out there and see if there are any buyers willing to throw in a lot of coin.
It is not a firesale.
Larger companies do this all of the time and often there are corporate tax incentives, depending on how exactly the company is sold, to make a sale even more interesting to Vivendi's shareholders.
The big question is, how much will they net in this sale, if the people will buy the shares at the stock price, above it or below it. That alone should tell everything about what investors might think of the gaming market. If Microsoft is getting at it too, as rumors are saying they will, then part of the consolidation process of the industry begins there. Vivendi is the majority shareholder of Activision with 60% of Activision stock. If MS buys them all they technically get to own Activision.
The price offered to the stocks and who gets it will determine the health of the industry as perceived by investors. If an outsider to the industry offers to buy the shares at stock price or a little below it then people still believe the gaming market is profitable. If a gaming giant buys the stock, well, the consolidation begins because Activision will literally be a subsidiary of whoever purchases the stock.
Also Vivendi will be desperate to offload these stocks so they might accept an unfair price per stock.