Simpson Thacher Appointed As Lead Adviser On $70 Billion Microsoft-Activision Deal
Microsoft has appointed Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as lead adviser on its $68.7 billion deal to acquire games publisher Activision Blizzard. Simpson Thacher will also work with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom on the deal.
The Microsoft-Activision deal is not only Microsoft’s largest-ever deal but also the largest-ever transaction in the video gaming sector, further boosting the tech giant in its competition against gaming sphere leaders Sony and Tencent.
According to the firm, the Simpson Thacher attorneys advising Microsoft include M&A partners Alan Klein, Anthony Vernace, and William Allen. The trio previously worked with Microsoft on its $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016 as well as other deals including the tech giant’s $7.5 billion acquisition of Github in 2018.
Meanwhile, a Skadden team led by M&A partners Kenton King and Sonia Nijjar will guide Activision-Blizzard.
“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” commented Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all.”
