It has officially been announced that the gaming giant Activision Blizzard will be acquiring King in a deal valued at $5.9 billion.
The deal will be paid by Activision Blizzard at $18 per share, being paid with internal cash and remaining owing’s with a credit agreement. The deal is due to close by Spring in 2016.
Kings share price has always been known to be under its initial floatation price. Before the deal, the share value was at $15.54, creating a valuation of $4.7 billion. This deems that Activision Blizzard is paying 20 percent in premium.
Recent reports have shown that in the last financial quarter, King had profits of $164 million, cash of $786 million and revenues of $490 million.
http://remeshed.com/2015/activision-blizzard-now-owns-king-creators-candy-crush/
The deal will no doubt create a strong foundation in PC, console and mobile gaming. The merger will help the company see over 500 million monthly users across 196 countries.
The merger is said to increase Activision Blizzards 2016 non-GAAP revenue by approximately 30 percent.
King will however will continue to run independently and by the CEO and Founder Riccardo Zacconi.
Zacconi said in a recent statement “We believe that the Acquisition will position us very well for the next phase of our company’s evolution and will bring clear benefits to our players and employees,”
He continued “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.”
The CEO of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick also commented “The combined revenues and profits solidify our position as the largest, most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment,”.
After 5+ years in development, we're excited ... 
