Vivendi is interested in selling its 61% stake, valued at $8.1 billion, in Activision Blizzard.
If no buyer steps forward, the Paris-based company plans to sell some of its shares on the open market.
“The problem is there are no readily apparent buyers for Activision,” said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, who believes that Vivendi will have trouble finding a buyer despite Activision's successes with games like World of Warcraft. “The only option left to Vivendi is to lever up Activision’s balance sheet and pay out all of its cash as a dividend, then spin the company off.”
Vivendi Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou is trying to restructure the company and boost the stock price after a near nine-year low.
Activision and Vivendi Games merged to create Activision Blizzard in 2007.
Follow @wita on Twitter for tales of superheroes, plumbers in overalls, and literary adventures.
