Activision Blizzard’s plan to buy back more than $8 billion in shares (in two transactions) from majority stakeholder Vivendi has been halted pending the outcome of a recently-filed lawsuit seeking to prevent the sales going forward as planned.

Last week Activision Blizzard shareholder Douglas M. Hayes filed a suit in Delaware to halt the proposed sale and force the company to give non-Vivendi shareholders a chance to vote on the deal. The suit alleges the sale would give control of the company to CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly and would “unjustly enrich Kelly, Kotick and the other participants,” reported Bloomberg Activision Blizzard confirmed today that the Delaware Chancery Court, in Hayes v. Activision Blizzard, Inc., has preliminarily enjoined the planned transactions between both Activision Blizzard and Vivendi and the separate investment vehicle led by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly and Vivendi, halting the closing of the transactions unless the injunction is modified on appeal or the transaction is approved by a stockholder vote of the non-Vivendi stockholders.Activision Blizzard remains committed to the sale and “is exploring the steps it will take to complete the transaction as expeditiously as possible.”In July Activision Blizzard announced it would buy back approximately $5.83 billion in shares (around 429 million Company shares) from Vivendi. In addition to this, a separate investment group led by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly would purchase a further 172 million Company shares for approximately $2.34 billion.

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