The American video game publisher, Activision Blizzard, plans to buy King Digital’s mobile game Candy Crush.

The purchase deal values at US$5.9 billion and Activision Blizzard will pay US$18 per share.

However, King Digital shareholders have yet to approve the acquisition, which has yet to be cleared by relevant antitrust authorities. On the other hand, the sale was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. The sale is expected to be completed next spring.

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The video game publisher said that the acquisition would make it a global leader in interactive entertainment across mobile, console and PC platforms. Activision’s purchase is a major move toward a more aggressive foray into the mobile gaming platform, Business Insider reported.

The company’s goal is to broaden its reach and appeal to a larger demographic. The addition of Candy Crush will allow Activision to get more than half-a-billion people in 196 countries, The Verge learned.

Other video game publishers are also moving from physical sale of games to digital growth as consumers opt to play on smartphones and tablets than on gaming consoles.

Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, said the combined revenues and profits signify that the company has become the largest, most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment, according to BBC.

“With a combined global network of more than half a billion monthly active users, our potential to reach audiences around the world on the device of their choosing enables us to deliver great games to even bigger audiences than ever before,” Kotick added.

Candy Crush Saga started on Facebook and smartphones in 2012, and became commercially popular. However, King Digital has struggled to release another title that it hoped would come close to the puzzle game's popularity.

Activision has already growing revenue from its gaming franchises such as “Call of Duty,” “Destiny,” “World of WarCraft” and “StarCraft.”

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