Update:
Microsoft has reached out to PlayStation LifeStyle via its PR agency to state that it does not believe that the Activision Blizzard deal will be “blocked” in the U.K. Microsoft believes that it has a “strong” case for the acquisition.
Original story:
A new report claims that the Microsoft Activision deal is expected to be officially opposed by U.K. regulator Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The New York Times claims to have been told by sources familiar with the matter that Microsoft itself expects the acquisition to be opposed by the CMA.
Microsoft Activision deal recently received letter of objections from EU
Following weeks of rumors, Microsoft received a formal letter of objections over the proposed acquisition by E.U. regulator last week. The list of objections have yet to be made public but concerns about the move being anti-competitive are uniform across the board.
According to The New York Times, Microsoft believes that the European Commission is open to concessions, and hopes that it’ll convince both CMA and EC to accept the concessions and approve the deal. This, in turn, will make it easy for Microsoft to fight off U.S. regulator Federal Trade Commission, which sued to block the acquisition back in December.
Conversely, should the acquisition be blocked by either one of the aforementioned regulators, the Microsoft Activision deal will essentially be doomed. As pointed out by experts, the agencies could also put pressure on one another to oppose the deal.
