News
Today another chapter has been added to the apparently infinite saga sparked by the pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.
Published on
Pension funds representing New York City public employees filed a section 220 Complaint against Activision
Today another chapter has been added to the apparently infinite saga sparked by the pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.
As reported by Axiosa number of New York City-based retirement funds for public servants (New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, the New York City Police Pension Fund, the New York City Board of Education Retirement System, and the Teachers’ Retirement System for the City of New York) have filed a section 220 complaint against the well-known video game publisher in order to be entitled to inspect company documents relevant to the acquisition deal.
The complaint, filed in Delaware on April 26, alleges that the deal would allow the company’s CEO Bobby Kotick and the board of directors to escape liability for their alleged breach of fiduciary duties, also linked to misconduct of previous allegations.
It also alleges that Microsoft’s offer undervalues the company’s value, thus causing losses to its shareholders, including acting on the funds as plaintiffs.
According to the complaint, Kotick should have been found to negotiate a deal with Microsoft by the board, but this did not happen.
That being said, the potential impact of the complaint is unclear, as mentioned by Lawier Richard Hoeg on Twitter.
Hoeg mentions that the overwhelming approval was voted on by the deal for shareholders, arguing that it was undervalued by the company or was improperly negotiated. He also argues that while this is not completely irrelevant, it is not very relevant compared to everything else Activision and Microsoft are going on.
The acquisition deal is still pending regulatory approval and Microsoft expects to close within its next fiscal year, which will begin in July 2022 and end on June 30, 2023.
