Microsoft’s Activision deal could face a new merger investigation in the UK
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has warned it may need to carry out a fresh investigation into Microsoft’s planned merger with Activision Blizzard.
The CMA, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard announced on Tuesday that they’d paused legal proceedings with a view to reaching an out of court agreement on the game companies’ proposed merger, after the deal was cleared in the United States.
The watchdog said it was ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a way that would address the concerns that led to it blocking the deal initially.
In a follow-up statement provided to Bloomberg, the regulator said a restructured deal proposal could require a fresh investigation.
“Merging parties don’t have the opportunity to put forward new remedies once a final report has been issued, they can choose to restructure a deal, which can lead to a new merger investigation,” said a CMA spokesperson.
“Microsoft and Activision have indicated that they are considering how the transaction might be modified, and the CMA is prepared to engage with them on this basis. These discussions remain at an early stage and the nature and timing of next steps will be determined in due course.”
In April, the CMA said it was preventing the deal from going ahead due to concerns about its impact on the nascent cloud gaming market.
Prior to litigation being paused this week, Microsoft had been scheduled to appeal the decision in a court case beginning on July 28.
Microsoft wants to try and push the deal through before the current merger agreement expires on July 18, after which Activision Blizzard could walk away with a $3 billion termination fee if an extension isn’t agreed.
The CMA has a statutory deadline of 40
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