As was expected, shareholders of Activision Inc. overwhelmingly approved the video game publisher's combination with Paris-based Vivendi SA Tuesday.
As part of the deal, Vivendi will own a 52 percent stake in a new company, which, combined with Vivendi Games, will be called Activision Blizzard. It will continue to be publicly traded under the symbol "ATVI."
Under terms of the agreement, Vivendi is buying 62.9 million newly issued Activision shares at $27.50 per each for a total of about $1.7 billion in cash. In addition, shares of Vivendi Games will be converted into 295.3 million new shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share, for a value of $8.1 billion.
This will give the French media conglomerate a majority stake in Activision.
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Activision's games include the "Guitar Hero" and "Call of Duty" franchises, while Vivendi's Blizzard is best known for "World of Warcraft," the world's most popular online game.
The companies said all of the proposals needed to close the deal received approval form more than 92 percent of the shares voted.
The deal is expected to close on Wednesday or thereabouts.
Activision's shares fell 69 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $31.32.
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