Activision has announced that stockholders have approved the merger between it and Vivendi Games to form Activision Blizzard at a special meeting today. The deal is expected to close on or around July 9, 2008, and the total transaction will amount to $18.9 billion US dollars.

Although merger plans were announced on December 2, 2007, the joint venture would not be official until Activision’s investors green lit the merger. In addition, the European Commision had to decide the meger did not constitute a monopoly. Once the deal is complete, Vivendi Games, parent company to Blizzard Entertainment and Sierra, will become the wholly-owned subsidiary of Santa Monica, California-based Activision; though Vivendi, parent company of Vivendi Games, will own approximately a 52% stake in Activision Blizzard.

When everything becomes official, top-selling franchises such as Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo and more will all be housed under the banner of one company. This would make Activision Blizzard the largest 3rd party videogame publisher in the world.

As reported back in December 2007, Activision CEO Robert Kotick will become the company’s new President and CEO, with Vivendi’s current CEO, Bruce Hack, serving as the company’s Vice-Chairman and Chief Corporate Officer.