An Analysis of Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard: A Synergy-Based Perspective

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-874-5_104How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Mergers and Acquisitions; Operational synergy; Management synergy; Financial synergy

Abstract

Synergy is a core issue in corporate mergers and acquisitions research. Existing literature mostly uses large-sample quantitative research methods to evaluate the effectiveness of mergers and acquisitions. However, when facing emerging industries, high-growth companies or special merger and acquisition situations, such methods often fail to reveal the specific mechanism and actual impact of synergy. In 2023, Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for US$68.7 billion, becoming one of the largest technology industry mergers and acquisitions in history. This article takes this case as a starting point and conducts a systematic analysis of the three dimensions of operational synergy, management synergy and financial synergy based on Microsoft’s financial data over the past five years. The study finds that the acquisition achieved significant operational and managerial synergies: the gaming business accelerated, management efficiency improved, and expense ratios declined. Although financing costs and tax burdens did not decrease, financial synergy was reflected in improved cash utilization. Forecasts indicate that synergy will continue to play a role in the future. This research provides an analytical framework for evaluating synergy in tech-sector M&As and highlights the importance of resource complementarity, managerial integration, and capital efficiency in realizing acquisition value.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Kaiyu Chen
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/03
TI  - An Analysis of Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard: A Synergy-Based Perspective
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 International Conference on Financial Innovation and Marketing Management (FIMM 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 897
EP  - 906
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-874-5_104
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-874-5_104
ID  - Chen2025
ER  -