Gaming portal Polygon reports a lawsuit filed against Activision Blizzard and its board of directors by one of the shareholders of the publisher Kyle Watson. According to the plaintiff, the company violated the US Securities and Exchange Act in connection with the sale of AB to Microsoft Corporation.
Watson's lawyers accuse the publisher and board of directors of seeking immediate benefits from the deal with Microsoft. They note that this is not in the interests of the company as a whole. Watson says the Microsoft deal is unfair for a number of reasons.
The suit alleges that AB's February 18 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission is misleading and incomplete. Lawyers for the plaintiff say the publisher's board did not set up an independent committee of disinterested directors to manage the sales process.
Watson insists that AB issue a new statement to the commission that does not contain incorrect statements.
A spokesman for the publisher said the company disagreed with the allegations made in the lawsuit. He added that AB is looking forward to defending its interests in court.
In August last year, shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against AB. They accused the company of hiding information about cases of discrimination and harassment faced by studio employees. A month later, US Federal Securities Regulators began investigating AB.
The deal between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft became known in the middle of last month. The corporation intends to acquire the publisher for $68 billion. The deal should be completed in 2023.
In February, it was reported that Microsoft's gaming head Phil Spencer had entered into talks with AB three days after a Wall Street Journal article about publisher Bobby Kotick was published in November. In this material, the publication reports that the CEO knew about the facts of harassment and discrimination.
Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission released a document that contains information that Kotick will receive $15 million in compensation if he is fired. If the corporate culture in the company improves, then he will be given $22 million worth of shares.
bbabo.Net