Vivendi’s bid for Activision plops another behemoth into the ring with gaming giant Electronic Arts. The two square off armed with roughly equivalent revenues. Game investors screaming from the rafters for more might recall what EA’s CEO, John Riccitello (pictured left), had to say on the subject of mergers in the gaming industry last week at the Reuters Media summit: “Is it ripe or has it already been picked? I would argue that it’s been largely picked…. That doesn’t mean it’s done, I think there will be more consolidation to come, but let’s just say a lot has already happened.” The WSJ’s Deal Journal says Activision shareholders may live to regret the deal. “If the planned $4 billion tender is fully subscribed, then only about half of Activision’s existing shares can be exchanged for the 25% premium, based on Friday’s close. What’s more, mergers of near equals tend not to work out very well, especially in industries with strong cultures, such as gaming. 
 
Adidas’s stock jumped more than 3 percent on market talk that Nike and Japanese sports shoe maker Asics were warming up to bid for the German company. One trader put the figure at $15.28 billion.

Swiss Life said it planned to buy German investment adviser AWD in an agreed deal valuing AWD at 1.16 billion euros ($1.71 billion). “It’s definitely not a cheap deal for them,” said analyst Birgit Roper at Societe Generale.

South Korea’s SK Telecom agreed to buy nearly 40 percent of compatriot broadband firm hanarotelecom for $1.2 billion, just a few days after having a $5 billion investment offer spurned by U.S. carrier Sprint.

Dutch jobs firm Randstad is buying rival Vedior in a cash-and-stock deal worth 3.3 billion euros ($4.87 billion) to create the world’s second-largest staffing company.