Microsoft/Activision Merger Takes Giant Leap Forward

gamesreviews.com:

After a hasty court case, the Microsoft/Activision merger has taken a giant leap towards being closed.

The FTC wanted the merger to be halted, but today Judge Jacqueline Corley allowed the deal to go ahead. The FTC, she said, had failed to show that competition would be lowered because of the merger. In fact, the opposite is true.

She said: “This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore denied.”

That leaves just one major hurdle left for the deal to go through: the CMA in the UK. The authority has blocked the deal, and Microsoft has appealed the move. But the CMA is famously difficult to get around. They also stand completely alone now.

If they’re as poorly prepared as the FTC was in their case, the appeal should be a slam dunk. The result here depends on whether that appeal is granted and if the verdict is changed after the appeal – the CMA don’t have to change their mind.

On the other hand, Microsoft have supposedly been working on ways to close the deal around the CMA. This isn’t a surprise – they will have explored every single option. But it’ll be interesting to see if they have the patience and time to wait for the CMA to change its tune.

Officially, Microsoft and Activision