Disney Urged to Purchase Activision Blizzard – Will It Happen?

Disney Urged to Purchase Activision Blizzard

We’ve seen a huge drop in share prices for Activision Blizzard in the past year, as high as 40% even. While this isn’t exactly good for the company, it does seem to present other businesses with a good opportunity to acquire the company. One huge company that could easily do this is Walt Disney Co.

Nick Licouris of the investment firm Gerber Kawasaki reportedly sees benefits between Activision’s Esport business and Disney’s TV networks. Disney has plenty of character properties that could be leveraged further. Disney’s checkered past in the world of video games may put them off, however. Disney Infinity, for instance, was an ambitious attempt to enter the world of video games but this project ended in costly failure.

And yet, a deal with Activision Blizzard would be potentially lucrative. The industry continues to grow, and Activision Blizzard may have a something up their sleeves with the upcoming release of World of Warcraft Classic. Furthermore, Disney already televises Overwatch League through ESPN3, so we know they already have some interest and knowledge of Activision Blizzard’s properties.

Despite Activision Blizzard’s recent woes in the stock market, the deal would not come cheap. The company is still valued at USD $34.85 billion dollars. For comparison: Disney acquired Marvel Studios in 2009 for only USD $4 billion.

For now, for Disney to purchase Activision Blizzard, it’s going to be a huge movement and it’s like an investor’s dream rather than an actual business strategy. Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney Co., remarked that “We’ve just decided that the best place for us to be in that space (video games) is licensing and not publishing.” Looks like they are still relatively content to let EA and other publishers work with their properties.

Source: Bloomberg

Pokdepinion: It would be another huge acquisition by the company behind the Mickey Mouse Funhouse if this happens for real. Probably the biggest the industry has seen even.