2023-09-28 07:46:00
Update (09/28/2023) – GS
We recently learned that the UK CMA has granted preliminary approval for Microsoft to proceed with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. With this, many believed that the merger was practically complete, considering that the Redmond giant also defeated the Federal Trade Commission in the USA.
Even though he even lost an appeal against the decision handed down by the US Federal Court, the FTC does not appear willing to give up, and in a stunning turnaround, the regulator announced this week that it will proceed with an internal trial against the acquisition. The change means the FTC can technically continue to challenge the deal even after it’s reached, but it likely won’t stop it from happening until October 18.
The FTC continues to believe that this agreement is a threat to competition. The agency is placing the matter on the committee’s calendar, but our current focus is on the federal appeals process.
The FTC typically abandons settlement challenges when they lose in federal court. In some cases, the agency has tried to undo mergers after they lost in court.
Both Microsoft and Activision said they believe the deal will go as planned.
We are focused on working with Microsoft towards closing. How the FTC uses limited taxpayer dollars is their decision.
We still anticipate that we will close the transaction by October 18th and we have full confidence in our case and the benefits of the deal for players and competition.
The FTC’s internal hearing is expected to begin 21 days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issues its opinion on the appeal of the district court’s ruling, according to the document.
For now, we can only wait for the outcome of this chapter of the soap opera, but it seems that the FTC is fighting a losing battle.
Update (07/14/2023) – GS
Microsoft-Activision: FTC appeal denied as UK CMA tries to buy time
Microsoft’s soap opera against regulatory bodies to obtain approval for the purchase of Activision Blizzard continues. At the beginning of the weekthe federal court announced the victory of the Redmond giant against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the USA, which brought the merger one step closer to completion, but it didn’t take long until the American regulator decided to appeal the decision.
A few days after the appeal, the court decided to deny the appeal, in a decision published by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, the same judge who originally ruled in Microsoft’s victory against the FTC. The judge published the following verdict:
The FTC asks this Court to prohibit the merger in question pending resolution of the FTC’s appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The motion was denied.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in technology history. It deserves an investigation. That investigation paid off: Microsoft committed in writing, in public and in court, to keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on par with Xbox. It made a deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to the Switch. And it made several deals to, for the first time, bring Activision content to multiple cloud gaming services.
This week, we learned that Activision Blizzard is preparing to delist from the US Top 100 stock exchange index, indicating that the company is preparing to complete the merger very soon. The company is scheduled to be delisted on Monday, June 17th, a very strong indication that Activision Blizzard could become part of Microsoft in less than a week from now.
As a result, Microsoft depends solely on the outcome of the CMA investigation in the United Kingdom to obtain full approval of the deal, however, the regulator decided this week to postpone its decision for around six weeks, with a deadline of August 29th. The decision is justified, says the authority, by “special circumstances”. However, the CMA hopes to reach a conclusion before the deadline.
Note that this does not prevent Microsoft from deciding to close the acquisition anyway, without CMA approval (we could therefore see a “Microsoft Brexit”, at least partial).
According to some rumors, Microsoft is planning to resell part of its cloud gaming division to telcos in the UK as a way of gaining regulator approval, but this has not yet been officially confirmed.
Are we finally reaching the end of this soap opera?
Original text – 07/11/2023
Microsoft wins lawsuit against FTC over purchase of Activision Blizzard studio
A Microsoft emerged victorious in a lawsuit filed by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the acquisition of Activision Blizzard studios. The decision was made by judge Jaqueline Scott Corley, from California, who denied a request for a limit requested by the government body, giving a favorable opinion to the company.
The FTC has three days to appeal the decision made by the judge, who released the following argumentative text justifying Microsoft’s victory in this antitrust lawsuit:
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in technology history. It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny paid off: Microsoft committed in writing, in public, and in court to keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on par with Xbox.
It made a deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to the Switch. And it has made several deals to bring Activision content to several cloud gaming services for the first time. The responsibility of this Court in this case is narrow.
It is to decide whether, despite these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC’s administrative action.
For the reasons stated, the Court finds that the FTC has not demonstrated a likelihood of prevailing on its claim that this particular vertical merger in this particular industry may substantially lessen competition.
On the contrary, the record evidence points to greater consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. Therefore, the injunction request is DENIED.
Security
10 Jul
Software
07 Jul
The text points out that Microsoft has committed to keeping the Call of Duty (COD) franchise, one of Activision Blizzard’s most popular and profitable, available for Sony consoles for the next decade. In addition, big tech also signed an agreement with Nintendo to bring COD to Switch video games while maintaining the multiplatform feature.
According to information obtained by The Verge, Microsoft executives celebrated the recent victory in the United States, but there is still a way to go considering that the North American giant has not yet won the fight in the United Kingdom regulatory body (CMA), which blocked the transaction.
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