Bobby Kotick of Activision was announced as the new president and CEO, while René Penisson of Vivendi was appointed chairman.[16] The European Commission permitted the merger to take place in April 2008, approving that there weren't any antitrust issues in the merger deal.[17] On July 8, 2008, Activision announced that stockholders had agreed to merge, and the deal closed the next day for an estimated transaction amount of US$18.9 billion.[18]