Now that Myspace has been placed in the bargain bin (for the low price of $100 million), Bobby Kotick is part of a group that might actually pick it up.
Even after Myspace tried to reinvent itself as a gaming portal and cut costs by laying off 500 employees via Xerox, casual game developers have been abandoning the social network in droves and nobody has seemed terribly interested in buying the site. However, a potential buyer has finally surfaced, and you’re not going to believe who’s interested in owning Myspace: Activision’s Bobby Kotick.
Back in 2006, the social network was valued at roughly $6 billion, but parent company News Corp is now (reportedly) only asking for $100 million. News Corp has had a few different private equity firms express interest in buying the site, but Kotick is part of a group that is apparently the main bidder:
Bobby Kotick, chief executive of Activision Blizzard Inc., said he had been approached about being part of the investor group but hasn’t yet committed. Any investment by him would be personal and small, and Activision wouldn’t be involved, he said.
One person familiar with the matter said Mr. Kotick wouldn’t take an active management role. Another person cautioned that a deal between the investor group and News Corp. was a “long shot.”
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Kotick hasn’t committed to the investment group yet, but other news outlets are claiming he’s definitely a part of the group. As a result, it’s a little unclear how interested the man actually is in the deal.
Apparently other potential investors have dropped out since they initially expressed interest. This isn’t too surprising: In May, Myspace’s unique traffic was down almost 50% from the same time last year and the segment of News Corp that operates the site reported a $165 million loss in its most recent financial quarter.
So, what do you think? If Kotick’s group does manage to acquire the site -and since Activision has nothing to do with this deal- what do you think will happen to it?
Source: Wall Street Journal
Published: Jun 10, 2011 10:30 pm