Vivendi and Activision announced an $18.9 billion business combination, creating a video game business player that will rival industry leader Electronic Arts Inc. The company, to be called Activision Blizzard, will join Activision's best-selling titles for consoles, including "Guitar Hero," "Call of Duty" and the Tony Hawk skateboarding games, with Vivendi's top-selling PC and online games, such as "World of Warcraft." Skadden is representing Activision in the transaction, announced in December 2007. As The Wall Street Journal reported, "The most interesting thing about the Vivendi-Activision deal might be the financial wizardry that went in to putting it together."
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates