Microsoft is close to concluding its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. According to a report by Tom Warren for The Verge, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley decided in favor of the Xbox owner over the FTC.
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Thanks to a judge’s decision today rejecting the Federal Trade Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction on the deal, it appears for the time being that Microsoft is close to concluding its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. According to a report by Tom Warren for The Verge, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley decided in favor of the Xbox owner over the FTC.
This legal dispute was Microsoft’s most significant because it threatened to push the deal past the deadline of July 18 in the original proposal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. It did not completely seal the deal for Microsoft because it still needs to clear a few more obstacles. If you need more information about whether Activision Blizzard’s purchase by Microsoft is successful despite the FTC order, then read carefully, and don’t forget to share it with your friends.
In her ruling, Judge Corley emphasized that Microsoft had publicly stated and formalized its commitment to releasing Call of Duty on PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch over the following ten years and that the FTC had not “shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim that this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition.”
Judge Corley even goes so far as to claim that the injunction hearing revealed the exact opposite of what the FTC had predicted it would, demonstrating that the merger would increase consumer access to Activision products.
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After receiving approval to finalize its agreement in the United States, Microsoft will now attempt to prevail in a comparable conflict in the United Kingdom. The CMA and Microsoft have agreed to negotiate after the FTC case verdict, according to a report from The Verge. According to the CMA, it is “willing to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a manner that would address the concerns outlined in [its] Final Report.”
The decision was announced in an email from Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick to staff, who also hinted that the company would shift its attention from the United States to the United Kingdom: “We’re hopeful that today’s decision points the way to full regulatory approval elsewhere in the world, and we stand ready to work with UK regulators to address any outstanding issues so our merger can close quickly,” the statement reads.
The Microsoft and Activision Blizzard merger, according to Kotick’s email and a press release he issued, will ultimately be to consumers’ advantage. As noted by Warren for The Verge, the hearing for Microsoft’s appeal on that decision will begin on July 28. This is why the U.K. is still so crucial in this merger because regulators there also moved to block the merger between the two companies.
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