The British competition authority CMA has given more clarity to its plans to issue a new ruling on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In a statement, regulator interim general counsel Chris Prevett said he believes the CMA investigation team will be able to make a preliminary ruling on Microsoft’s restructured merger proposal in the week beginning Aug. 7. After the posting of this interim solution, third parties will have seven days to possibly interfere with their submissions.
We also learned that the CMA believes the new proposal has a real chance of passing.
The CMA has filed a joint application because it believes there is a real opportunity to achieve a certain outcome more quickly that will address competition issues and protect consumers, as well as allow the deal to be modified.
The regulator is considering several developments since the publication of its previous decision to block the merger. In particular, the legally binding conditions put forward by the European Union in the field of cloud streaming as part of the approval of the transaction. These terms are backed up by a monitoring and enforcement regime, including an expedited dispute resolution regime with significant consequences if cloud gaming providers believe that Microsoft is not meeting agreed obligations.
In addition, Microsoft argued that CMA’s blocking of the entire deal is disproportionate and unnecessary to prevent a significant reduction in competition in the cloud gaming industry.
Sony has also agreed to a 10-year deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation platforms, which Microsoft sees as another significant change.
On the other hand, the regulator confirmed that the FTC’s failure to obtain a preliminary injunction from both the district court and the appellate court is irrelevant and immaterial to the CMA’s further action.
Meanwhile, Microsoft and Activision have announced extensions to the merger, and the FTC has temporarily withdrawn its administrative lawsuit, weighing options. In addition, the Supreme Court denied the plaintiffs’ motion in the so-called “gamer lawsuit” for an emergency injunction.
Elsewhere, most regulators have decided in favor of the acquisition, including recent decisions by the European Union, China, South Korea, South Africa, and Turkey, with a total of 40 countries having approved the acquisition.
