Activision Options Bet Pays 246% in an Hour After Merger Cleared

One trader made a well-timed bet that Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion bid to acquire Activision Blizzard Inc. would get the okay to move forward from a US court Tuesday.

A block trade of 2,000 Activision call spreads — which would gain in value as the shares rise — was reported about 10 minutes before the company’s shares spiked when a US judge denied the Federal Trade Commission’s request to halt the deal.

WATCH: A US court clears the way for Microsoft to buy Activision.

Source: Bloomberg

The spreads, which are equivalent to 200,000 shares, traded for $1.20 each at 10:44 am New York time. They were worth about $4.15 an hour later ...