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According to reports on the evening of October 6, people familiar with the matter said today that Microsoft will announce the completion of its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard on October 13 (next Friday). This means that after more than 20 months of hard work, Microsoft finally successfully acquired Activision Blizzard.
By then, whether Microsoft can announce this news as expected will also depend on the British antitrust regulator “Competition and Markets Authority” (CMA). The CMA blocked the deal earlier this year, but Microsoft recently resubmitted its takeover proposal, gaining preliminary approval from the CMA.
Currently, the CMA is collecting public opinions and today is the deadline. Therefore, the CMA is expected to make a formal decision next week. Based on the current situation, barring any last-minute surprises, the CMA will approve the deal.
In January last year, Microsoft announced it would acquire Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. After the transaction is completed, Microsoft will become the third-largest gaming company in the world by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. Subsequently, multiple regulatory agencies around the world launched investigations into the transaction.
Today, the deal has been approved in 40 countries and is only awaiting clearance from the UK. Pending the outcome of the CMA’s review, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard also agreed in July to extend the deadline for the deal from July 18 to October 18.
Regarding this transaction, the British CMA is mainly worried about the adverse impact it will have on future competition in the cloud gaming market. But in August this year, Microsoft submitted a new acquisition plan to the CMA. Under the new proposal, Microsoft will transfer the cloud gaming rights for current and future new Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft.
The CMA subsequently stated that the sale of Activision Blizzard’s cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft largely resolved its previous concerns.
If Microsoft succeeds in acquiring Activision Blizzard, it will be the largest deal in the gaming industry, closely integrating Microsoft’s influence in the console market with Activision Blizzard’s games such as “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” .
Source: Sina.com
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