Activision officials must face claims about Microsoft takeover, right rules

By Jonathan Stamp (Reuters) -a Delaware judge said former activities of Activision Blizzard, including CEO Bobby Kotick, should face the bulk of a lawsuit in which they claimed that their shareholders had shortened the ‘Call of Duty’ playmaker for $ 75.4 billion. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Chancery Court said on Thursday that shareholders in the proposed class action could fulfill their ‘core’ allegation that Kotick and other Activision directors violated their fiduciary duties. She rejected two claims against Microsoft. Shareholders led by the Swedish Pension Fund Shunde AP Fondon accused Kotick of rushing in the merger so that he could retain his job and $ 400 million in change benefits and isolating himself from allegations that he knew about widespread sexual harassment at Activision. They also said that the takeover of $ 95 a share was too low from the start, and that the performance of Activision improved during the 21-month regulatory approval process for the merger, which was closed in October 2023. In a October 7 letter that, after the publication of this article, Kotick’s defamation advocate, the allegations of the broad harassment were disputed at Activision. ‘Not a single investigation, court finding, judgment or decision has ever concluded that there were any earnings not’ for the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke. In an 83-page decision, McCormick found sufficient allegations that Kotick manipulated the sales process to benefit Microsoft, which “quickly, is about security and of opinion a friendly landing.” She has also found that it is quite conceivable that Activision directors put Kotick’s interests before those of shareholders, including by allowing a low -ball overcoming price, while the concern of harassment pushes the share of activition. She rejected the allegations that Microsoft helped and helped the alleged offenses, even if the Redmond, Washington-based company, “passively was” at “while they took place. She also rejected other claims against the Activision defendants. “The litigation of the merits of a cut -off version of the plaintiff’s complaint can now be introduced,” McCormick wrote. ‘Spell on.’ A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company believed the remaining claims would be refuted. “This acquisition was negotiated fairly and provided great value to Activision’s shareholders,” the spokesman added. The lawyers of the shareholders did not respond to requests for comment. The case is Shunde AP Fondon v Activision Blizzard Inc et al, Delaware Chancery Court, No. 2022-1001. (Reporting by Jonathan Stamp in New York; Editing by Bill Berkkrot and Diane Craft)