A Delaware court on Wednesday blocked Activision Blizzard’s plan to buy back most of Vivendi’s stake in the company for $8.2 billion, delaying a long-held desire by the video game maker to regain fuller control.
Activision said in a statement that a judge with Delaware’s Court of Chancery issued a preliminary injunction as part of a shareholder’s lawsuit. The company said that the deal â€" composed of two transactions through which Vivendi will sell most of its 61 percent stake â€" could not move forward without Activision either winning an appeal or holding or a shareholder vote on the matter.
Activision and Vivendi had been hoping to close the deal by the end of the month.
“Activision Blizzard remains committed to the transaction and is exploring the steps it will take to complete the transaction as expeditiously as possible,†the company said in a statement.
The move puts up an unexpected roadblock for what would be one of the bigger deals this year. The shareholder who filed suit against Activision, Douglas Hayes, has argued that the purchase must be approved by the video game publisher’s independent investors.
The injunction also puts a dent in the plans of both companies.
Activision and its chief executive, Robert Kotick, have made no secret of their desire to eventually buy out the company’s biggest stakeholder. It is Mr. Kotick who spearheaded years of acquisitions to create a video game giant, whose top franchises include “Call of Duty†and “World of Warcraft,†and he has long hoped to have more control.
And Vivendi has planned to use some of the proceeds from the sale in an effort to remake itself. The French conglomerate has already announced plans to sell its stake in a Moroccan telecommunications company and, more important, study a move to spin off its SFR telecom division to focus on media.
