Activision Blizzard completed the acquisition of King Digital for $ 5.9 billion

Today, Activision Blizzard has officially completed the takeover of King Digital, a company known for mobile projects such as Candy Crush and several other similar projects. The total amount of absorption was $ 5.9 billion, and for the first time a deal was announced back in November 2015. As part of this takeover, Activision Blizzard has become the largest publisher with an audience of over 500 million users. If you believe the publisher’s projections, then in 2016 King Digital’s revenue will be approximately $ 6.25 billion with a net operating profit of more than $ 2 billion.

Currently, this deal is one of the largest for European startups - King’s head office is located in London.
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“We see potential and new perspectives for interacting with an audience that can launch their favorite franchises - from Candy Crash Saga, to Call of Duty and World of Warcraft and others on mobile devices, consoles and computers. We are pleased to welcome all King Digital employees in our family, ”said Bobby Kotyk, Activision Blizzard CEO.

King Digital took a leading position in the mobile market after the release of Candy Crush Saga several years ago, which allowed the company to bypass Zynga and other giants of this industry. But, despite the successful competition, brands Zynga and Rovio still remain one of the most recognizable. In addition, the decline in the popularity of the Candy Crush series on mobile platforms has also affected - players began to give preference to new projects, and King Digital could not offer anything new for its audience. New projects of the company could not find the same popularity among the players.

This also affected the company's capitalization after its IPO in 2014. At that time, the company was estimated at $ 7 billion, but gradually its value began to fall , after which King Digital absorbed Activision Blizzard at a cost of $ 18 per share in 2015. This price turned out to be significantly lower than $ 22.50 per share when entering the IPO in 2014, but still remained attractive for the management and investors of King Digital.