Barclays and Goldman Sachs to Assist Activision/Blizzard Sale

Just how big of a name is Call of Duty these days? Well, you could try asking Vivendi - following reports that the corporation cannot sell its ownership of Activision/Blizzard (not even Microsoft wants to buy), it has had to call in assistance from top banks Barclays and Goldman Sachs to secure a sale of $8.1bn. To anybody, I suppose.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Vivendi's stock price also shot up since it was revealed that it was to sell the studios (reported here) behind World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and Skylanders. This may have more to do with the fact that Vivendi has a high level of debt and is siphoning off the game makers to repay what it owes.

The fact that the pair are reportedly worth around $13.4bn, and that negotiations are being prepared for $8.1bn, perhaps shows a lack of confidence in the brands associated with the third-party games publisher.

Take-Two, Warner, Disney and Chinese telecommunications firm Tencent have all reportedly been approached for a sale, but a buy-back of the 61 per cent controlling share from Activision/Blizzard itself has not been ruled out.

Source: WSJ