Microsoft's legal team reportedly believes that the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority is preparing to oppose its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The acquisition of the publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and many other major video games is currently in limbo as international regulatory bodies do antitrust evaluations. The FTC in the United States is already moving to prevent the acquisition, and Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition could be blocked in the United Kingdom next.
The United Kingdom's CMA is currently in the process of a Phase 2 investigation. The Phase 1 investigation, which is faster and less thorough, raised concerns that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard could impact competition within the country. Phase 2 gathers substantially more evidence on the acquisition and investigates potential changes to industry competition. Provisional findings are expected to be issued in early February, with a final deadline for the CMA's report on April 26.
With provisional findings expected relatively soon, The New York Times is reporting that Microsoft's legal team expects the CMA to oppose the Activision Blizzard acquisition. No further details were provided regarding the nature of the UK's opposition, however. Microsoft would be put into a position of having to persuade the CMA to allow the acquisition by late April.
Microsoft is said to be planning to continue its efforts, regardless of the CMA's potential opposition. Sources described Microsoft hoping to persuade not just the United Kingdom but also the European Union to access significant concessions in order to approve the deal. If Microsoft is able to persuade the EU, for example, it could pressure the UK to also accept the concessions. Microsoft could then cascade those approvals into persuading the FTC in the United States to also reach an agreement.
The International components of the Activision Blizzard acquisition make it incredibly volatile and difficult to predict. The fact that Microsoft's legal team continues to pursue the acquisition should convey the company's confidence in the matter, however, even as regulatory bodies circle the wagons. It's increasingly clear that Microsoft is going to have to make significantly larger concessions in order to make it happen.
While the past several months have resulted in very little news regarding Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, things are about to start moving very fast. Starting in February with the CMA's initial findings and going through August when Microsoft has its court case against the FTC, the last remaining international bodies evaluating the acquisition will come to their respective conclusions. Whether that ends with a successful Activision Blizzard acquisition is just as unclear as when Microsoft's purchase was first made.
Source: New York Times