Activision Deal Likely to Pass in UK as the CMA Stays Legal Battle for Further Negotiations

wccftech.com:

Today Microsoft scored a major victory in their quest to get their proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard approved by regulators. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission had filed a preliminary injunction to block the deal before its July 18 deadline, but today a federal judge sided firmly with Microsoft in the matter. Microsoft will still face FTC hearings in August, but most of their arguments have just been roundly rejected in court, so the case doesn’t look good.

Of course, Microsoft hasn’t had a perfect record of victories with regulators. While they seem to have defeated the FTC, back in April the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority blocked the Activision Blizzard deal, a decision that Microsoft quickly appealed. Well, in light of the FTC’s decision, it seems the CMA is reconsidering its stance. The CMA has announced they’ve agreed to pause appeal proceedings and give Microsoft a chance to propose additional changes to the deal that might get it approved.

“We stand ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a way that would address the concerns set out in our Final Report. In order to be able to prioritise work on these proposals, Microsoft and Activision have agreed with the CMA that a stay of litigation in the UK would be in the public interest and all parties have made a joint submission to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to this effect."

Microsoft president Brad Smith released his own statement, saying Microsoft is open to addressing the CMA’s concerns, even if they don’t necessarily agree with them…

“Our focus now turns back to the UK. While we ultimately disagree with the CMA’s concerns, we are considering how the transaction might be modified in order to