Microsoft and Activision Blizzard extend merger deadline to buy time to satisfy the UK government
The deadline on Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been extended to October 18 this year, giving the companies more time to convince the UK government to reverse its decision to block the deal.
The original deadline, initially agreed by Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, was July 18 and would have saddled Activision Blizzard with a $3 billion fine had the acquisition window not been extended.
Though the renegotiation of the deadline was always highly likely, both companies must now turn their attention to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which blocked the proposed acquisition earlier this year. That said, it's not yet game over for Microsoft — far from it. Microsoft has already lodged an appeal with the CMA, and has shown a willingness to hear a «detailed and complex» proposal from Microsoft which could convince the monopoly watchdog to change its tune (via Eurogamer).
In <a href=«https://twitter.com/XboxP3?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1681646844634599424%7Ctwgr%5Eff1f60867574e63c1193bd0a980bfa9f50db7d9d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurogamer.net%2Fmicrosoft-and-activision-blizzard-extend-merger-deadline-to-october» target="_blank" data-url=«https://twitter.com/XboxP3?ref_src=» https:>a Tweet
announcing the deadline extension, Xbox head Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft is «optimistic about getting this done, and excited about bringing more games to more players everywhere.»Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have extended the merger agreement deadline to 10/18. We're optimistic about getting this done, and excited about bringing more games to more players everywhere.July 19, 2023
Elaborating on the topic, Activision Blizzard's CCO and executive vice
Read more on techradar.com
