James Delahunty
19 Sep 2013 19:19
A U.S. Court has halted a deal that would see Activision buy Vivendi's $8.2 billion stake in the publisher.
A Delaware court put a temporary hold on the deal after an investor Douglas Hayes sued, claiming that the companies did not put the deal to shareholder vote as legally required. It is very rare for a U.S. court to take this action, but it is unlikely to kill the deal according to analysts.
The deal was announced in July by Vivendi, after it had agreed to sell its stake to the publisher for $8.2 billion.
Both companies can appeal the court's decision, and if successful, could close the deal very quickly. Otherwise, Activision can call a shareholder vote, which will take more time and likely won't change the outcome.