Vivendi Offloads More Activision

Activision shared closed at $20.87 on the New York Stock Exchange May 22, which means it’s likely Vivendi got $866 million out of the deal.

So far there’s been no indication who the buyer is, although Activision chief exec Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly would be in the frame.

Last September Kotick and Kelly led the initial buyback when Activision acquired a majority stake of itself from Vivendi.

That deal reduced Vivendi’s stake in the games firm from 61.1 percent to 12 percent. The latest one reduces the French media and telecoms giant’s holding to a little over 6 percent.

The first deal also sent Vivendi’s clearest message – apart from the purchase of EMI — that it intends to focus on music.

News of it came days after Vivendi had raked in $5.9 billion by selling its 53 percent stake in Maroc Telecom to Etisalat, the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation.