Microsoft achieved victory against the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), but still faces an obstacle to complete the acquisition of Activision Blizzard: the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the United Kingdom.
It seems that things are going well for Microsoft, as they have just confirmed that they will pause their legal battle with the CMA to negotiate everything related to the acquisition. This way, the organization will once again hear Microsoft's proposals to close the deal and satisfy both parties.
Microsoft now seeks victory with the CMA
Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, stated that they will focus again on the CMA after their victory against the FTC. The executive affirmed that they will seek alternatives to close the deal, thus avoiding a longer legal conflict.
"After today's court decision in the United States, our focus now turns back to the United Kingdom. While we ultimately disagree with the CMA's concerns, we are considering how the transaction could be modified to address those concerns in a way that is acceptable to the CMA," stated Smith in a statement to The Verge.
Microsoft and the CMA have agreed to pause their legal battle and have already filed an application with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). With this, Microsoft has an opportunity to close the acquisition before the agreed-upon date, which is July 18th.
The CMA confirmed that it will consider all the alternatives that Microsoft presents to them. They made it clear that their goal is to "restructure the transaction" in a way that addresses all the concerns raised in their final report.
As a reminder, the UK regulatory body blocked the acquisition as they deemed it detrimental to the industry and emerging markets, such as cloud gaming. Additionally, they stated that Microsoft's agreements with various companies were not sufficient to address their concerns.
Our statement on the mutual request with the CMA for a pause of our appeal in the UK: pic.twitter.com/8Aky2IJjxS
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) July 11, 2023
Find all the news related to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard at this link.
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