UPDATED 22:27 EDT / JULY 17 2023

POLICY

UK court gives Microsoft more time to negotiate with CMA over $69B Activision Blizzard acquisition

The U.K.’s Competition Appeal Tribunal today agreed to extend Microsoft Corp.’s appeal to buy the gaming giant Activision Blizzard Inc. after the acquisition was blocked by the U.K.’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, or CMA, citing concerns over Microsoft’s potential grip on the cloud gaming market.

Both Microsoft and the CMA had asked the court for more time to negotiate, and the court responded with an extension of two months. If the deal goes through, it won’t only be the biggest acquisition for Microsoft but will be the largest acquisition in tech history. There has been plenty of resistance over the months from regulators on both sides of the pond, with each saying the deal is not in the spirit of fair competition.

Last week, some of that resistance lost ground when a U.S. judge denied a preliminary injunction request from the Federal Trade Commission to block Microsoft from completing the acquisition. Shortly after, the FTC filed an appeal, while at the same time, Microsoft and the CMA agreed to search for “new remedies” in their own negotiations. The CMA later said the timing of the change of heart and the FTC court loss was purely a “coincidence in timing.”

In May this year, the European Commission, the European Union’s executive branch, gave the green light to the deal, despite an earlier investigation concluding that the deal would harm competition. It seems Microsoft addressed the issues that most concerned the EU, and on it went fighting its battle on other fronts.

Google LLC and Nvidia Corp. were also notably outspoken in their concern about the acquisition, but it was Sony Corp. that mounted the biggest challenge to Microsoft. Now Microsoft and Sony have signed a 10-year agreement which will see the uber-popular game franchise “Call of Duty” stay on Sony’s PlayStation. Microsoft also signed agreements with another big competitor in the gaming market, Nintendo Co. Ltd.

It has been quite the fight for Microsoft to land this deal, but it seems right now that the company has all its ducks in a row. This is the last big if not the final hurdle, and there’s a good chance within these two months, the CMA and Microsoft are going to find a way to make this historic acquisition a reality. Even so, the FTC hasn’t given up yet, and there’s always a chance the CMA might still throw a wrench in the works.

Photo: ToddABishop/Flickr

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.

  • 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
  • 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.

Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.