According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), entertainment veterans Barry Diller and David Geffen bought stock options on Activision Blizzard just days before the acquisition was announced.
The United States the Secretary of Justice and the Financial Supervision Authority (SEC) are investigating large stock option deals made by the names of the entertainment world before software giant Microsoft acquired gaming company Activision Blizzard, says The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
According to unnamed sources in the magazine, he is a film and music producer David GeffenTV businessman Barry Diller and a social circle person Alexander von Furstenberg are earning a deferred gain of approximately $ 60 million from the Activision share option transactions made just days before the announcement of the acquisition.
According to the WSJ, the Department of Justice and the SEC are investigating whether stock option violations violate the country’s insider laws.
Diller tells WSJ that the troika had no information from outside public sources about Microsoft’s intentions to buy Activision. According to him, it was “just a lucky bet”.
According to WSJ sources, the trio bought Activision stock options for $ 108 million on January 14 in transactions brokered by JPMorgan Bank. The present value of the options is approximately $ 168 million.
Microsoft and Activision announced a takeover bid on Jan. 18. JPMorgan will report the transactions to the authorities after the announcement of the acquisition.
Diller has been invited by the CEO of Activision Bobby Kotickia as a long-term friend. According to public sources, Kotick had been negotiating with Microsoft over a possible acquisition since November.
Diller is also a long-time friend of Geffen. Von Furstenberg, on the other hand, is the son of Diller’s spouse from the spouse’s previous marriage.
#Companies #WSJ #Financial #Supervisors #Investigate #Public #Stock #Option #Options #Microsoft #Activision #Acquisition
