Late Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Activision Blizzard – one of the U.S.’s top videogame producers – agreed to acquire another big player, King Digital, for $3.4bn in cash plus debt. As with all of the M&A activity that has become a major theme of 2015, related exchange traded funds will be moving right along with the two major players’ stocks.
The ETF whose positions are currently most heavily involved in the deal is PowerShares Dynamic Software Portfolio (AMEX: PSJ). PSJ currently holds a 5.52% position in Activision Blizzard and 3.41% in King Digital.
On word of the news PSJ has gone up just north of 1% as of late-day Tuesday. Activision Blizzard (ATVI) has endured a wild day on the back of the news, plunging nearly 7.5% at the open and surging to a near 5% gain as the day draws to a close.
Commentators seem to be siding with the late-day trading surge in terms of long term outlook for the deal, concluding that expansion into mobile with a brand name was a savvy move. Investopedia covered the three main reasons the deal is a win.
PSJ follows a proprietary index PowerShares describes, “based on the Dynamic Software IntellidexSM Index (Intellidex Index). The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stocks that comprise the Index. The Intellidex Index is designed to provide capital appreciation by thoroughly evaluating companies based on a variety of investment merit criteria, including: price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action, and value.”