UK maker of Candy Crush bought by US's Activision Blizzard for $5.9bn

Deal to buy King Digital is biggest takeover of a UK tech company in four years and will give World of Warcraft maker a foothold in the mobile games market

King Digital, the British creator of Candy Crush, has been bought for $5.9bn (3.8bn) in the biggest takeover of a UK tech company in four years.

King is being acquired by US video game maker Activision Blizzard, the business behind World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. The US group will pay $18 in cash for each King share - 16% more than King's closing price on Monday - in a deal that is the biggest in the British tech sector since Hewlett Packard bought Autonomy in an ill-fated 7bn deal in August 2011.