Corporate bits | MGM valkyrie-themed pastry sale raises MOP183,000 for Orbis

In connection with “Joana Vasconcelos at MGM Macau”, an exhibition that unveiled the artist’s Valkyrie Octopus sculpture, MGM China launched the “Joana Vasconcelos at MGM Macau – Orbis Fundraising Program,” from which the company doubled-up all proceeds from the sale of the Valkyrie-themed pastries to support Orbis’ sight-saving projects around the globe. A check-presentation ceremony was held yesterday to mark the donation of the raised proceeds amounting to MOP183,000.
The exhibition was held from March until the end of October. During the exhibition, MGM China organized the “Joana Vasconcelos at MGM Macau – Orbis Fundraising Program,” with the support of Vasconcelos’ charity foundation, Fundação Joana Vasconcelos – Lisboa. Inspired by the vibrant colors of the Valkyrie Octopus, MGM’s Pastry Team created the Valkyrie-themed pastries, which were on sale between April and October 31.
Grant Bowie, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of MGM China Holdings Limited, said, “The exhibition of Joana Vasconcelos’ Valkyrie Octopus at MGM Macau may have ended, but the beauty of art, vision and compassion within our community stays with us. While we continue to bring in spectacles and unparalleled experiences to Macau, we are also dedicated to creating a better tomorrow today by giving back to the community.”

Activision to buy candy crush’s maker in usd5.9b deal

Activision Blizzard Inc. agreed to buy King Digital Entertainment Plc for USD5.9 billion in a tax-saving deal that unifies console and PC games Call of Duty and World of Warcraft with the leading mobile game Candy Crush Saga.
Activision will pay $18 a share in cash, a 16 percent premium to King Digital’s closing price of $15.54 Monday in New York. That’s also 20 percent lower than King’s initial public offering price of $22.50 in March 2014. The stock fell after the IPO on concerns that the Dublin-based maker of Candy Crush may fail to diversify from its top-selling game and become a one-hit wonder.
The agreement adds a mobile publisher to the arsenal of the biggest U.S. video-game maker, positioning Activision to capitalize on growing smartphone-based play. Activision will use $3.6 billion of cash stored outside the U.S. to finance the deal, a move that will help save about $1 billion in taxes the company would have had to pay to repatriate the money, according to tax consultant Robert Willens.
“It’s a very astute investment from a tax point of view,” said Willens, president of Robert Willens LLC.
Activision’s stock dropped 0.7 percent to $34.32 at 9:57 a.m. in New York. Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick, who won independence from Vivendi SA in 2013, had guided the stock to a 72 percent increase this year through Monday, third-best in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. King soared to $17.75.
Mobile gaming is already the industry’s biggest category with revenue forecast to reach $36 billion in 2015, according to the companies. That’s projected to grow by more than 50 percent by 2019.
“Now is the right time to enter mobile gaming,” Kotick said on an earnings call.