Microsoft and Activision Merger Approved by Brits; Acquisition Odyssey Coming to an End
Britain's CMA has agreed to Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The deal should be finalized in the coming days.
After two years of battling with various government organizations, Microsoft is finally a step closer to finalizing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
- The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved the acquisition of the publisher.
- This was the final hurdle to Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
- However, the CMA imposed an important condition. Before the deal can be finalized, Microsoft must sell the rights for streaming Activision Blizzard games for the next 15 years to another entity. This will not be a problem, however, as the company has already signed such a deal with Ubisoft.
- In the current agreement between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft, the deadline for finalizing the deal was set for October 18, and it will most likely be met.
In this way, Microsoft has overcome all obstacles. The European Union had previously given its approval, and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lost in court and will not be able to block the deal.
Although the FTC has not given up yet and will still appeal, it failed to get a court decision to temporarily block the merger pending the appeal. So in practice, once it is finalized, the FTC's chances of reversing the takeover will be virtually nil.
CMA's approval was commented on by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. In a letter to employees, he wrote:
"Today the CMA, the regulatory authority in the UK, approved our transaction with Microsoft.
We now have all regulatory approvals necessary to close and we look forward to bringing joy and connection to even more players around the world.
Our board chair Brian Kelly and I are incredibly proud of all of you and your accomplishments over the last four decades. We’re excited for our next chapter together with Microsoft and the endless possibilities it creates for you and for our players.
With gratitude,
Bobby"
A few days ago Activision confirmed that we shouldn't expect Diablo IV and Call of Duty Modern Warfare III in Game Pass this year. The publisher's titles will be added to the offer of this service gradually - the mentioned items will hit it next year at the earliest.
