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EpicRandy said:
Ryuu96 said:

Divestment isn't really a viable option either, there would be too few who would be willing to and even have the money to acquire Activision who also won't run into regulatory issues and the negatives would likely outweigh the positives at this stage.

Actually it's a viable options as there does not really need to be a buyer to divest. I confirmed this with chatGPT so that's it with a grain of salt but it looks reasonable and accurate.

My question "Is there a form of company divestment where the divested part is made public and share of the new entity is distributed among shareholder of the prior whole company?".

Answer : 

Yes, there is a form of company divestment where the divested part is made public and shares of the new entity are distributed among the shareholders of the prior whole company. This type of divestment is called a spin-off, and it involves a parent company creating a new, independent company by separating a division or business unit and distributing its shares to the parent company's shareholders.

In a spin-off, the new company is usually structured as a separate legal entity with its own board of directors and management team, and it operates independently from the parent company. Shareholders of the parent company receive shares of the new company in proportion to their ownership in the parent company, allowing them to participate in the growth and profits of both companies. Spin-offs are often used by companies to unlock value and improve their overall performance by allowing each company to focus on its core strengths and business operations.

I knew the term spin-off but assumed it was just synonym to selling part of a company rather than being it's own separate process (we learn every day). But that said if CMA want divestment in this case it is possible they won't accept spin-off because with the same pool of shareholders it is likely that it act as a strong 2nd party to MS.

Does that mean Activision-Blizzard shareholders? So basically Bobby would remain as CEO?

Interesting but what would that mean for the contracts that Microsoft has negotiated with Nvidia and Nintendo? Will they now be void?

Well...That does sound like a viable option but depending on the answer to my above questions, there could be a few negatives to it still. I'd also wonder if that would even be acceptable for the CMA if they're set on structural remedies. Wouldn't Microsoft still have some sort of notable influence over Activision even if they "operate independently"

As you said, sharing shareholders would in effect likely make Activision act like a 2nd party for Microsoft even if they operate independently, it could allow Microsoft to express influence over them for certain benefits in relation to CoD.

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 02 March 2023