Disney Investor Thinks Company Should Buy Game-Maker Activision

Activision Blizzard Inc.’s declining share price over the past several months has some speculating the video-game company could be a takeover target.

Gerber Kawasaki Inc.’s Nick Licouris thinks Walt Disney Co.should be the buyer. The Santa Monica, California-based investor sees potential benefits between Activision’s growing esports business and Disney’s TV networks. He also sees an opportunity for Disney to leverage its film and TV characters.

“Ideally for an investor you want this to happen now,” Licouris said in an interview. Gerber Kawasaki owns roughly 90,000 shares of Activision, worth about $4.3 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Disney is in the firm’s top three holdings, with a 13F filing listing more than 152,000 shares valued at almost $22 million.

Disney’s history in the video-game business isn’t great. The company acquired game makers such as Playdom and Club Penguin, bought game studios and launched a gaming platform called Infinity. But after running up hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, the company shifted to letting companies like Electronic Arts Inc. make games based on its characters for a fee.

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Categorized in: Esports News