NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Activision Blizzard (ATVI) - Get Report announced that it would acquire "Candy Crush Saga" maker King Digital Entertainment (KING) in a deal worth $5.9 billion. 

Santa Monica, CA-based Activision Blizzard, is a publisher of popular video games like "Call of Duty" and "Destiny." Under the terms of the deal, it will acquire all outstanding King Digital shares for $18 in cash a share.

The deal is expected to be completed by the spring of 2016, the companies said.  

TheStreet's Jim Cramer, Portfolio Manager of the Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio, commented on the deal, saying: "Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision, is one of the great money makers of our time. I have known Bobby for 30 years. If he says this is a good deal it's a good deal."

Along with the acquisition announcement, Kotick added, "The combined revenues and profits solidify our position as the largest, most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment."

This acquisition will allow Activision Blizzard to be a global leader in interactive entertainment across mobile, console and PC platforms, the company stated. The deal will also give the combined companies more than 500 million monthly active users globally.

Additionally, the company reported its third quarter 2015 earnings results after yesterday's market close. Profit came in at 21 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates of 15 cents a share.

Revenue was $1.04 billion, topping analysts' forecasts of $952 million.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2014, the company earned 23 cents a share on revenue of $1.17 billion.

Overall, strong engagement, digital revenue and a 17% year-over-year growth in monthly active users boosted its latest quarterly results. 

Activision Blizzard shares are retreating 0.72% to $34.32 in pre-marketing trading today. 

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates ACTIVISION BLIZZARD INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate ACTIVISION BLIZZARD INC (ATVI) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, solid stock price performance, reasonable valuation levels, increase in net income and good cash flow from operations. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: ATVI

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