Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold 7.4 million shares, or 12% of its stake, in Activision Blizzard as the company’s acquisition deal with Microsoft hangs in the balance.
The sale brings Berkshire’s stake in the video game developer to about $4B.
- Berkshire
began buying shares in Activision in 2021 before Microsoft announced in
January 2022 it was looking to buy the company for about $75B.
- If approved, it would be Microsoft’s largest acquisition to date.
- In
2022, Berkshire built up its stake in Activision to about $4.5B, hoping
to profit off the difference between its trading price and Microsoft’s
$95 a share purchase offer.
- Earlier this month, the U.K.’s
Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the planned acquisition
would harm U.K. gamers and proposed that Microsoft sell Activision’s
popular “Call of Duty” franchise.
- In December, the U.S. FTC
sued to block Microsoft from buying Activision, saying the acquisition
would harm competition in high-performance gaming consoles and
subscription services.
- Microsoft has offered various deals in
hopes of calming regulatory concerns over the deal, including offering
“Call of Duty” to other game console makers like Sony and Nintendo for
10 years.
