With Activision Blizzard's 98% shareholders green-lighting Xbox acquisition, Microsoft's next hurdle will be FTC approval

sportskeeda.com:

Xbox's potential acquisition of Activision Blizzard has received a major boost following the shareholder's meeting on April 28. There were some rumors from Wall Street that the deal might not go through, based on share prices.

However, reality has been quite different as 98% of the shareholders voted positively and gave a green signal to the potential acquisition. The job is not done, though, as all parties involved will have to work with regulatory authorities, particularly the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Earlier in 2022, Xbox announced its plans to take over Activision Blizzard in a deal worth a whopping $70 billion offer. If the deal eventually goes through, it will be one of the largest takeovers in terms of valuation.

Since the potential deal was announced, there have been different speculations from many sources. While some felt that the deal would have no blockades, others have been less than convinced.

The first barrier has now been removed, with the shareholder votes going in favor of Xbox. This was more or less expected given the valuation at which the gaming giants will buy Activision Blizzard. Getting the approval of the regulatory authorities will be another matter.

Given the scale of the deal, it has to go through the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC will mainly be reviewing the antitrust part of the deal, which is also along common grounds.

One fear that some have over this approval is that the FTC has blocked NVIDIA's potential acquisition of chipmaker Arm in the past. When looked at closely, there are clear differences.

For starters, much of the investigation over that deal was done in the UK. The FTC had followed the investigations in handing out its judgments. It should also be noted that the deal was