Call of Duty developer targets Candy Crush maker in $5.9bn cash deal

The maker of Call of Duty is paying $5.9bn (£3.8bn) for the UK mobile gaming firm behind Candy Crush Saga. Activision Blizzard’s investment marks a big shift in its strategy towards the mobile market from its traditional console and PC roots. Alongside King’s products, including Candy Crush which remains among the most downloaded games apps, the California firm gets more than 470 million ‘monthly active users’ of King’s games. Activision said it was paying $18 per share under the deal - a 20% premium on King Digital’s share price - and the company would continue to be run by its existing management team.

The combined revenues and profits solidify our position as the largest, most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment.

Bobby Kotick, the chief executive of Activision

Bobby Kotick, the chief executive of Activision, said: "With a combined global network of more than half a billion monthly active users, our potential to reach audiences around the world on the device of their choosing enables us to deliver great games to even bigger audiences than ever before.“ His counterpart at King, Riccardo Zacconi, said: "We are excited to be entering into this acquisition with Activision Blizzard.”

We believe that the acquisition will position us very well for the next phase of our company’s evolution and will bring clear benefits to our players and employees.

Riccardo Zacconi, CEO of King

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