Microsoft is acquiring Minecraft maker Mojang for $2.5 billion. I’ve got mixed feelings about the transaction.
The strategic benefits are questionable and financially, Minecraft is worth maybe $1.8 billion — a valuation which assumes a sequel is as commercially successful as the original, and which assumes the intellectual property rights founder Markus Persson took out of Mojang is part of the transaction.
A $1.8 billion valuation leaves $700 million that new revenue streams like additional merchandising, a successful movie, etc. are unlikely to cover.
The best possible explanation might be that Microsoft is using its foreign cash reserves to pay for the acquisition — money that would be difficult for Microsoft to use domestically for tax reasons.
THE CORNERPLAY 