UK Regulators Could Launch New “Merger Investigation” Against Microsoft Activision Deal

While Microsoft achieved a victory against a US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) injunction earlier this week over its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it still has to clear the hurdle that is the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to clear. And it’s a fight that is only going get harder for the Windows OS owner, as the British regulatory body may kick off a new “merger investigation”.

In a statement to The Verge, Billy Proudlock, a CMA Media Officer, said that the body’s discussion with Microsoft was still at an early stage. “Whilst merging parties don’t have the opportunity to put forward new remedies once a final report has been issued, they can choose to restructure a deal, which can lead to a new merger investigation. Microsoft and Activision have indicated that they are considering how the transaction might be modified, and the CMA is prepared to engage with them on this basis. These discussions remain at an early stage and the nature and timing of next steps will be determined in due course. While both parties have requested a pause in Microsoft’s appeal to allow these discussions to take place, its decision set out in its final report still stands.”

The decision by the CMA to threaten the Microsoft and Activision deal with a new merger investigation is a real about turn by the government body; just prior to its decision, the software company and owner of Call of Duty, Candy Crush Saga, and the entirety of Blizzard Entertainment’s IPs, initially sought to pause all hostilities and litigations against each other. In order to discuss new proposals regarding the acquisition. Clearly, this really isn’t the case.

As it stands, the UK CMA is currently the only challenge left for Microsoft and Activision to complete. The acquisition has already been given the green light in the EU, despite concerns about the former’s cloud gaming services, and as mentioned at the start of the article, it achieved a landmark victory against the US FTC, after a US judge denied the latter’s request for an injunction against the deal, basically saying that its fears of anti-competitive behaviour were more or less unfounded.

Microsoft’s issue with the UK’s CMA notwithstanding, and with regards to its US victory, its deal with Activision Blizzard could reportedly conclude as early as next week.

(Source: The Verge, KitGuru, Techspot)